Israeli army forces arrested Sunday night four top leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Palestinian sources in the town said.

The sources said among the four leaders is Hussein Abu Quake, 48, who escaped an assassination attempt by an Israeli Apache airstrike on his car about eight months ago in Ramallah.

Quake's wife and three of his children were killed in the attackthat targeted Quake's car. Israel considered him as one of the mostwanted Hamas leaders in the West Bank.

The Israeli army force detained another three Hamas leaders in the town, two of them are brothers, said the Israel Radio, adding that the four were taken by the army for interrogation.

Israeli security forces have been targeting Hamas leaders and figures in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of what Israel saysa fight against Palestinian violence.

Days earlier, Israel assassinated Hamas's armed wing commander Salah Shehada in the Gaza City with a F-16 warplane bomb that hit acivilian building. 14 civilians, including nine children, were alsokilled in the airstrike.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2002)