ISRAEL:Israel detained 33 Hamas politicians, including the minister of education, in overnight raids across the occupied West Bank and launched several air strikes at Hamas targets in Gaza in a new round of fighting with the Islamist Palestinian group.
Among those held was Nasser al-Shaer, the minister of education, who is regarded as more moderate than others in Hamas. He was taken from his home in Nablus. Several other Hamas MPs were detained, as well as the mayors of four West Bank towns, including Nablus and Qalqilya.
Michael Williams, a Briton newly-appointed as the UN Middle East special envoy, said the arrests "troubled" him.
"Of course legislators cannot be immune from the law," he told Reuters. "But what worries me is that in most cases there haven't been any charges, let alone trials."
A year ago, Israeli forces detained more than 40 Hamas politicians, including several ministers and the speaker of the parliament. Nearly all are still in detention.
The arrests marked an escalation in Israel's attempts to halt the firing of makeshift Qassam rockets from Gaza into its territory.
Since last week a series of air strikes on Gaza have killed at least 40 Palestinians, but the rockets continue to be fired. An Israeli woman was killed on Monday and two others have been seriously injured by the rockets. At least six were fired yesterday. "Arrests are better than shooting," Amir Peretz, the Israeli defence minister, told the army radio yesterday. "The arrest of these Hamas leaders sends a message to the military organisations that we demand that this firing stop."
The Israeli foreign ministry said it regarded Hamas as a terrorist organisation and membership of the group was illegal.
"A terrorist organisation remains a terrorist organisation, even if its members stand for democratic elections. Membership in such an organisation is a violation of Israeli and international law," it said.
Air strikes in Gaza yesterday targeted buildings the Israeli military said were Hamas training bases and command posts. A Palestinian farmer was reported killed by Israeli gunfire in his field.
However, Hamas said it would continue to fight. "We will chase the occupation soldiers and the settlers in every inch of our occupied land, and we announce that we give a free hand to our cells to strike against the enemy in every place in Palestine," the group said.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana met Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza yesterday and called for an end to the latest round of fighting.
"The rockets and the Israeli response have to stop," Mr Solana said.