Israeli troops arrest local Hamas leader

Hazem Shihab al-Shweiki, 38, was picked up during a pre-dawn incursion in the Palestinian town in the eastern part of the West Bank, Palestinian security sources said Monday.

An Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP only that a "Hamas terrorist was arrested in Jericho".

Israel has arrested hundreds of members of Hamas in a clampdown against the ruling Islamist party since Gaza-based militants, including members of Hamas's armed wing, captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid in late June.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted by one MP as telling parliament's defence and foreign affairs committee on Monday that the military had killed "300 Hamas members" in the Gaza Strip over the past three months.

Based on an AFP count, more than 260 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers have been killed in the territory since an Israeli operation began in Gaza in late June, following the capture of Corporal Gilad Shalit.

Source

About headlines and content that has changed after it was added to this site - see disclaimer here

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.