Hamas: Pursuing those who carried out Al-Khalil operation is a national crime

[ 02/09/2010 - 12:52 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Hamas Movement strongly denounced the frenzied arrest campaign being carried out by the Palestinian authority's security militias in the West Bank in search of the resistance fighters who carried out Al-Khalil operation on Tuesday, describing it as a national crime.

In a press release, the Movement slammed these militias for hastening to arrest and summon hundreds of Palestinian citizens for the sake of Israeli settlers instead of providing protection for the Palestinians against the settlers' daily attacks, especially in Al-Khalil city, which led to the killing of many Palestinians since the beginning of this year.

For its part, the popular resistance movement condemned on Wednesday the ferocious attack waged by the PA's security militias on the Palestinian resistance and called on the fighters to deal with these militias as traitors and never surrender to them.

In this context, the PA's militias reportedly kidnapped more than 250 Palestinian citizens thought to be affiliated with Hamas in the wake of Al-Khalil operation.

According to local sources on Wednesday, the militias carried out indiscriminate raids on hundreds of homes belonging to senior Hamas officials and figures and kidnapped dozens of them.

They also summoned hundreds of Palestinians who were not home during the raids, including women in Salfit and Qalqiliya cities. Many worshipers were also kidnapped from mosques, especially after finishing dawn prayers.

Local sources told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that the militias are still carrying out raids on homes and kidnapping dozens of Palestinians.

They added that the number of Palestinian citizens kidnapped in Tulkarem city alone amounted to more than 50 detainees.

The Israeli military radio said Wednesday that a joint committee of the PA's security apparatuses and the Israeli army was formed to study all data and information collected from the Palestinians detained following Al-Khalil operation, asserting that this information could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.

In a separate incident, the PIC was told that militia men from the PA's intelligence apparatus kidnapped journalist Mamdouh Hamamra, who works as a reporter for Al-Quds satellite channel, after a raid on his home in Bethlehem city, without knowing reason for his detention.

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