PA arrests scores of Hamas members in West Bank

PA arrests scores of Hamas members in West Bank
Hamas accuses the Palestinian Authority of serving Israeli interests as more than 100 supporters are arrested in the West Bank.
2 min read
03 July, 2015
Hamas holds Abbas personally responsible for the arrests [Getty]

Palestinian Authority forces have arrested more than 100 Hamas members in the West Bank who were allegedly planning attacks, a Palestinian official said, in the biggest raid of its kind in years.

Adnan Dameri, a PA spokesman, said "We will not let Hamas undermine our security and draw our country to bloodshed, we will not let Hamas carry out attacks in the West Bank."

It was the biggest mass arrest in a single night since 2007, when Hamas arrested and violently removed forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas from Gaza.

A Hamas member of the Palestine Legislative Council, Fathi al-Qarawi, told al-Araby al-Jadeed "Arrests based on factional lines have been continuous since the split [between Hamas and the PLO] without any excuses, but this time the arrests have turned into a campaign, perhaps due to Israelis spreading fears that Hamas is responsible for the resistance operations in the West Bank and planning to take control of [the Palestinian] authority."

Hamas spokesman Husam Badran accused Palestinian security forces of working for Israel and said the militant group held Abbas personally responsible. Hamas will continue attacks against Israelis in the West Bank, he said.

There has been a surge in deadly Palestinian attacks against Israelis recently.

Two Israelis were killed in separate West Bank shootings that also injured several people, and two others wounded in stabbing attacks.

Hamas in Gaza published names of 108 of its members who had been arrested.

Meanwhile on Friday, Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian teenager in the West Bank after he allegedly threw stones at their patrol, Palestinian medical and security sources said.

Mohammad Kosba, 17, was killed by two bullets after launching the stones at an Israeli military vehicle close to the Qalandia checkpoint, south of Ramallah, the sources said.

The killing was the latest in a series of violent altercations since the start of Ramadan.