Israel arrests 33 senior Hamas figures

ISRAEL: Israeli soldiers arrested 33 senior Hamas figures in the West Bank on Thursday in order to halt rocket attacks by Palestinian militants, an Israeli military spokesman said.

The operation in the northern West Bank, mainly in the town of Nablus, netted Palestinian education minister Nasseredine al-Shaer, three lawmakers and four mayors, among others.

The Hamas officials had been arrested because they “supported the firing of rockets,” said the Israeli military spokesman.

Israel resumed air strikes against Gaza last week as militants fired scores of rockets towards the Jewish state, breaking a six-month truce.

Israel has warned that no leaders in Hamas — the senior movement in the Palestinan coalition government whose militants have been mostly responsible for the rocket attacks — were immune from attack.

Jerusalem, Thursday, AFP