[WCUSP] Israel Seized Palestinian Deputy PM

[C.J. Minster]

Israel seizes deputy Palestinian Prime Minister

By Wafa Amr

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) -
Israel<http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Israel>seized
Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Naser al-Shaer, a top official of
the Hamas militant group, at his home in the occupied      West
Bank<http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=West+Bank>on
Saturday.

Hours later, a Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli soldier near the West
Bank city of Nablus and was then shot dead by troops, the army and medics
said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Israel has more than two dozen Hamas lawmakers and several other cabinet
ministers in custody since late June, after it launched an offensive in
response to the kidnapping of a soldier in a cross-border raid from
the      Gaza
Strip <http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Gaza+Strip>.

Violence has continued in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since war broke out
with Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas on Israel's northern border after two
soldiers were abducted on July 12 in a cross-border raid. A ceasefire came
into effect on Monday.

An Israeli army spokesman confirmed troops had taken al-Shaer into custody,
saying it was "due to his membership in a terrorist organization."

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, condemned the
arrest and said government and people would remained undaunted.

"Israel's aims to undermine the Palestinian political system and to put
obstacles before the government and the people ... This is blackmail but we
are determined to continue our march," Haniyeh said.

Huda al-Shaer, the official's wife, said he was picked up at their home in
the West Bank town of Ramallah.

She told Reuters that "several jeeps circled the house before dawn" then
troops came to the door.

An officer told her after checking their identity documents, "'sorry madame,
but your husband has to come with us'. He let him first say goodbye to our
four children," al-Shaer said.

Two lawmakers from Hamas, a militant group that seeks Israel's destruction
and swept to power in the      Palestinian
Authority<http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Palestinian%0AAuthority>in
March elections, also confirmed al-Shaer had been seized by Israeli
forces.

Saeb Erekat, the top Palestinian negotiator, condemned the arrest and said
"this complicates" a recent bid by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to
forge a Palestinian unity government, to ease a Western aid embargo against
the Hamas government.

The boycott is designed to push the militant group to recognize Israel's
right to exist, renounce violence and accept past peace accords.

Israel seized dozens of Hamas cabinet ministers and lawmakers after
militants abducted Corporal Gilad Shalit on June 25. Many were later freed.
Al-Shaer had been on the wanted list but had not been found, Palestinian
sources said.

Israeli troops killed three Palestinian militants on Friday, and three Hamas
members died in the town of Jenin when a bomb they were preparing exploded
prematurely, local security officials said.

(Additional reporting by Atef Sa'ad in Nablus and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza)



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C.J. Minster, Program Chair
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
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