Political arrests stepped up in W. Bank due to anniversary of Hamas’s inception

Political arrests stepped up in W. Bank due to anniversary of Hamas’s inception

 GAZA, — The Movement of Hamas said Friday that Mahmoud Abbas’s militias stepped up the campaign of political arrests and summonses against its cadres in the West Bank in an attempt to prevent any activity to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of its inception.

In a press statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC), Hamas spokesman Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri said that Abbas alleges that Hamas is part of the Palestinian people, but he deals with it as an illegal organization through preventing it from organizing any event, arresting its cadres and closing its institutions.

Spokesman Abu Zuhri condemned the Palestinian factions for their silence towards the violations committed against his Movement in the West Bank, while their voices are heard when anything happens in Gaza.

In a related context, Omamah website said that Abbas’s militias kidnapped 10 Palestinian citizens affiliated with Hamas during the last two days in the districts of Nablus, Al-Khalil, Qalqiliya and Ramallah.

It added that families of Palestinian prisoners from the village of Baqat Al-Hatab in Qalqiliya affirmed their sons’ exposure to excruciating torture during interrogation in Abbas’s jails.

Omamah also reported that Abbas’s militias referred eight Hamas leaders and supporters to a civil court on charges of their affiliation with Hamas and money laundering.

Different Palestinian sources said that Abbas militias kidnapped two young men called Anwar Al-Sheikh and Mohamed Deriyeh from the villages of Marah Rabah and Beit Fajar south of Bethlehem.

Abbas’s militias also reportedly kidnapped recently other nine Palestinian citizens thought to be affiliated with Hamas in Tulkarem, Qalqiliya, and Nablus, according to local sources.