Palestinian Authority forces arrest more than 120 people, including many Hamas members, for "security reasons".
Palestinian
Authority forces have arrested at least 120 people, including Hamas
members, in the West Bank over the past two days, raising tension
between the rival movements.
At least 20 people were arrested on Saturday, officials said, a day after about 100 members were detained.
Hamas officials told Al Jazeera that the arrest campaign targeted
Hamas members, but also academics, students and former detainees.
Journalist Khaldoun Mazloum was among those arrested on Friday. His
wife, Ibtihal Mansour, told Al Jazeera that security forces came to
their house to take him shortly after midnight.
"This is not the first time they arrest him. They always present him
with charges related to the material he writes for media outlets,"
Mansour said.
'Secuirty reasons'
Adnan al-Damiri, the PA security services' spokesman, said the
arrests were not related to political activities but were made for
security reasons.
"We will not allow that the West Bank disintegrates into carnage and
wars just because Hamas wants escalation," he told Al Jazeera.
Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and is a rival of Fatah, the movement
headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas which is dominant in the
West Bank.
Though Abbas formally reconciled with Hamas last year to form a unity government, distrust remains.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri condemned the arrests as a "dangerous escalation which blocks efforts and reconciliation".
"These arrests are part of the security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority," Abu Zuhri said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said she had no information on the arrests.
Dozens of Hamas supporters protested in Gaza on Saturday morning, calling for the release of the detainees from PA-run prisons.
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