The Israeli army today arrested a member of Hamas's armed wing and said he helped plot a deadly bombing seven years ago at the height of a violent Palestinian uprising.
A military spokesman said Mohammed Mustafa Harouish (26) was arrested near the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank together with another man identified as Tisir Kamal Samara (25).
The army linked Harouish to a 2002 bombing in the coastal city of Netanya that killed 30 people and was claimed by the Islamist group Hamas.
The Israeli military frequently arrests Palestinians in the West Bank in what it says are necessary measures to thwart attacks against its citizens.
Residents of the city of Tulkarm, where Harouish had lived before going underground, said he had also been wanted by the Palestinian Authority's security forces.
Hamas had no immediate comment.
Reuters