Is Israel trying to keep Hamas from running in Palestinian elections?
The Israeli army has recently arrested dozens of Hamas cadres and leaders in the West Bank in the lead up to the Palestinian elections, which may affect Hamas’ leaders ability to mobilize the masses, launch electoral campaigns and persuade candidates to join their lists for fear of Israeli arrests.
The West Bank has been witnessing over the past few weeks intensive arrest campaigns by the Israeli army against dozens of Hamas cadres and leaders, members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), political leaders, as well as students and union activists.
Most recently, Khaled al-Hajj and Adnan Asfour, both Hamas leaders in the West Bank, and Hamas member in the PLC Yasser Mansour were arrested Feb. 16.
The Israeli army has in the past carried out periodic arrests of members of Palestinian factions in the West Bank, especially Hamas, to thwart their plans to carry out armed operations. However, ever since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced Jan. 15 the general election dates, Israel has been increasingly arresting and summoning Hamas cadres as part of an intimidation campaign to prevent them from running in the elections.
In January alone, the number of detainees amounted to 461.
