The Israel Defense Forces plans to arrest additional senior Hamas officials. Yesterday security forces arrested 65 key members of Hamas' political wing in an early-morning operation in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Among those arrested were eight ministers of the Hamas government who reside in the West Bank, and 20 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. The mayor of the town of Qalqilyah was also taken into custody.
The arrests are expected to continue.
Israeli sources say, however, that the operation is not intended to serve to accumulate 'bargaining chips' for securing the release of the abducted soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit. Instead, the operation is viewed in Israel as part of a broader policy of intensifying measures against the Hamas.
The operation was carried out throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the early hours of yesterday morning, and involved personnel from the Israel Defense Forces, the police and the Shin Bet security service.
The decision to embark on the operation was reached this week following the escalation of Israeli responses to the abduction of the soldier. The arrests were carried out in all cases without any resistance, and no shots were fired.
The detainees were taken to the Ofer military base near Ramallah for questioning.
In preparation for the operation, a legal case was prepared for each individual with preliminary evidence.
The plan is to bring charges against some of the detainees, predominantly for providing financial assistance to a terrorist organization and for participating in its activities. It appears that only a small number of the detainees are suspected of military activities in the framework of their membership of Hamas.
The first man arrested was Minister of Labor Mohammed Barghouti, against whom the Shin Bet presented evidence of links with Ibrahim Hamed, head of Hamas' military wing in Ramallah. Hamed was also arrested recently.
Similar charges were brought against Abd al-Jaber Fuqha, a member of the PLC.
Among the prominent Hamas leaders arrested yesterday was Mahmoud Abu Tir. Jerusalem police carried out the arrest of the man whose henna-colored beard became a symbol of Hamas' presence in East Jerusalem.
Also arrested in East Jerusalem were Mohammed Abu Tin and Khaled Abu Urfa, two well-known Hamas figures in the city.
The three had been targetted by the Interior Ministry last month, which began proceedings to cancel their residence permits because of their official capacity as Hamas parliamentarians.
The head of IDF's Central Command, Major General Yair Naveh said yesterday that 'we are in the middle of a strategic campaign against the Hamas. There is a new situation in which the elected government of the Palestinian Authority encourages and initiates terrorism, and therefore we proceeded with the arrest of Hamas members. The steps against Hamas terrorism will continue, tonight and also in the nights to come.'
Defense establishment officials view the operation against the Hamas members as one of the important steps taken as part of a broader military operation, codenamed Summer Rains.
The idea behind the operation is that the arrests will result in pressure against the Hamas leadership and concern that through their action they endanger the continuity of the Hamas-led government in the Palestinian Authority.
Senior IDF officers said yesterday that if there is no quick resolution to the abduction of Shalit, and the Qassam rockets continue to be fired against the Negev, Israel is likely to further intensify its activities against Hamas.
The officers did not exclude the possibility that senior Hamas political figures may be targeted for assassination at a later date.
However, the incarceration of the Hamas officials for long periods is not likely to have the necessary deterrent effect as they are veterans of Israeli prisons from previous periods.