Israel arrests dozens of Palestinians in West Bank
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Xinhua, August 21, 2011
The Israeli forces arrested more than 50 Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron, most of them members and supporters of the Islamic Hamas movement, witnesses and various sources said Sunday.
The detentions started at dawn, hours after the armed wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for firing rockets from the Gaza Strip. The rockets killed two Israelis.
Among the detainees was Mohammed Abu Jehisha, a member of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council, and local leaders of the Islamic movement's social committees.
Security sources said that the raid in Hebron was the largest since 2003.
The West Bank is controlled by the Palestinian National Authority, where Hamas says it is under constant crackdown by forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas. In Gaza, Hamas has security control since it routed pro-Abbas forces in 2007.
The firing of the rockets from Gaza came after two days of Israeli attacks that killed at least 15 Palestinians in Gaza. The Israeli attacks mounted after it accused Palestinian militants of being behind Thursday's deadly attacks in the Red Sea resort of Eilat.
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