HEBRON: Israeli troops arrested a Hamas MP in the West Bank on Wednesday, just months after he was freed after serving a four-year jail term, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said.
Naif Al-Rajoub was detained overnight when troops entered Dura village south of the flashpoint city of Hebron in the south of the occupied territory, the sources said.
The Israeli army confirmed they had arrested Rajoub, but refused to comment on the reason for his detention, saying he was one of seven Palestinians picked up overnight.
Rajoub, the former Palestinian minister for religious affairs, was released in June after serving four years behind bars.
He is the brother of Jibril Rajoub, one of the leaders of the secular Fatah movement headed by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, which has been embroiled in a bitter dispute with Hamas for years.
The MP was one of more than 60 elected Hamas officials arrested in June 2006 after Gaza militants captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a deadly cross-border raid. Many of those officials have since been freed.
Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, has demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, including several top militants convicted of deadly attacks, in exchange for Shalit, who is being held in a secret location in the coastal enclave.
The last round of talks over Shalit, mediated by Egypt and Germany, ground to a halt late last year when Israel presented an offer to which Hamas has not yet officially responded.
Israel and Hamas have each blamed the other for failing to reach a deal.
