PA arrests 28 Hamas members in West Bank

Thousands of Palestinians attend a rally in the besieged Gaza Strip to mark 30 years since Hamas was formed and in support of Jerusalem on 14 December 2017 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces have arrested 28 Palestinians, most Hamas members, in different areas across the occupied West Bank, the Committee of Prisoners’ Families said in a statement yesterday.

Palestinian MP Fathi Al-Qar’awi said that the detention campaign carried out by the PA “destroys civil security in the occupied West Bank.”

In a press release, Al-Qar’awi said: “Some of the Palestinian families pay the price of the occupation two-times as their sons are arrested by the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Authority.”

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He said that the PA detention of Palestinians and Hamas activists has not stopped, but this “has recently escalated quickly”.

The senior Hamas leader expressed his fears that such PA policy might be a reason for a state of tension and instability in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Qar’awi called for “an immediate end” to the political detention and appealed for all the political factions to interfere and stop the PA aggression against Palestinians.

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