RAMALLAH – The Israeli army carried out an arrest campaign on Friday against activists Palestinian activists and lawmakers in various West Bank towns, Palestinian and Israeli security sources said. The Palestinian sources said that the Israeli army arrested 28 Palestinians, including 5 Hamas lawmakers, in the cities of Hebron, Qalqilyah and Ramallah. The arrest campaign brings the number of Palestinians arrested in the last 24 hours to 83. The Hamas' Change and Reform parliamentary bloc in the West Bank identified the lawmakers as Imad Noufal, Mahmoud al-Ramahi, Bassim al-Za'arir, Riad Shaddad and Fathi Qar'awi. The bloc said in a statement that the arrests prove there is “great frustration” in Israel due to the Palestinian “Victory” in the Gaza Strip. The development comes a day after Israeli internal intelligence service Shin Bet arrested 55 Palestinians in the West Bank including top Hamas and Islamic Jihad members and Palestinian lawmakers. Some of the detainees belong to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. The Israeli army spokesman's office stated that the arrests were part of an operation to stop a rise in incidents of violence in the region. The army added that more than 100 “terror operatives” have been arrested in recent days. On Thursday, the Palestinian Prisoners Club (Nadi Al-Asir) said that the Israeli army arrested 230 Palestinians since the start of Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip. The club warned the Shin Bet will intensify its arrest campaigns against Palestinian in the coming days. Egypt mediated a ceasefire Wednesday between Palestinians groups in Gaza Strip and Israel that ended eight days of fighting. Nearly 160 Palestinians have been killed and over 1,200 wounded in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, while five Israelis were killed due to rockets fired by Gaza armed groups. Israel regularly carries out arrest raids throughout the West Bank, including in areas under full Palestinian Authority (PA)'s security control. The Palestinian Authority (PA) says that the daily Israeli raids in the West Bank cities and villages hinder its security forces to tighten their grip on the Palestinian territories. Israel does not allow the PA to have any security role in specific areas in the West Bank that the 1993 Oslo peace agreement between the two sides classified as C areas, which makes up more than 60 percent of the West Bank lands. According to the recent Palestinian statistics, Israel is holding 4,600 prisoners in 23 prisons and detention camps in Israel and in the West Bank of whom 198 children, 8 females, 14 members of Palestine Legislative Council.
