UPDATES AT BOTTOM
Just saw this on Yahoo News! and Ha-aretz:
Israel has arrested about thirty members of the Hamas-led Palestinian authority, according to various news sources.
Quotes below the flip:
Here's a piece of the article:
Hamas officials said more than 30 lawmakers have been arrested in the West Bank.
Palestinian security officials said Israeli forces detained the Palestinian deputy prime minister, Nasser Shaer, and three other Cabinet ministers, as well as four lawmakers in Ramallah. Several others were arrested in the town of Jenin, they said.
Israeli media reported a roundup of Hamas lawmakers in Jerusalem and other locations.
Also, the Hamas mayor of the West Bank town of Qalqiliya and his deputy were detained, security officials said.
In the interests of fair-use, I'll stop there and throw it open to general discussion.
First, my mindless comments:
1. This seriously raises the stakes. It is a ballsy move for the Israelis.
2. The Palestinians have been pushed into a corner. It will be interesting to see the response of Hamas chief Mashal, in Damascus, who is said to be pulling the strings on the kidnapping issue.
That's all - I'll watch comments for a bit. Sorry for the shortless of finger breath.
UPDATES:
12:08am EST
This is an interesting quote from an article on BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5124172.stm
(Don't know why the link isn't working in the diary....sorry).
LAMA HOURANI, NGO WORKER, GAZA CITY
To be frank I don't know what should happen. I know the kidnapping is legal because we are fighting an illegal occupation. At the same I can see the consequences of it and I don't see political gain for the Palestinians.