Last update - 00:00 26/05/2007
IDF arrests Hamas cabinet minister in West Bank raid
By News Agencies
Israel Defense Forces troops raided the West Bank home of a cabinet minister in the Hamas-led Palestinian unity government on Saturday and arrested him as part of a widening offensive against Hamas in response to increased Qassam rocket attacks on Israel in recent weeks.
"This aggression will not achieve its goals but it will lead to further escalations that will have dangerous consequences," Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said on Saturday.
The arrest of Minister of State Wasfi Kabha came two days after a sweeping arrest campaign in which 33 members of Hamas' political wing were arrested in the West Bank in late night raids.
Kabha's daughter, Ryan, said five soldiers came to their house before dawn, took her father, his computer and some of his documents. Kabha, a minister without portfolio, was also arrested last year for a month during a similar sweep.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is trying to negotiate a truce between the militant groups and Israel. No agreement has been reached. Israel hit several militant targets in Gaza early Saturday, including two locations near the home of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. He was not hurt.
On Thursday, the IDF and Shin Bet security service arrested 33 Hamas members. Among them were Palestinian Education Minister Nasser al-Shaer, four mayors and three members of the Palestinian parliament.
The last time Israel arrested Hamas politicians was in June 2006, immediately after Hamas kidnapped Corporal Gilad Shalit to Gaza in a cross-border raid.
Also Thursday, Palestinians opened fire on IDF soldiers carrying out an arrest operation in the West Bank city of Nablus. Soldiers returned fire, the military said. One militant was killed in the gunbattle, Army Radio reported.