RAMALLAH: The Israeli Army arrested five members of the Palestinian Authority’s intelligence services in the occupied West Bank on Friday, Palestinian security sources said.

The commander of the General Intelligence Service in Salfeet region, Lt. Col. Mohammed Bani Fadel, 45, and four of his assistants were arrested in the Palestinian villages of Aqraba, Dair Istya and Brouqin.

The Israeli Army was still looking for a sixth man, they said.

Palestinian security sources told Arab News the arrests were apparently made against the backdrop of an investigation currently being carried out by the General Intelligence Service against a Palestinian man suspected of collaborating with Israel.

Israeli security sources said the officers and a Palestinian from Bethlehem area were all taken in for questioning by the security forces.

Monir Al-Aboushi, the governor of Salfeet, told Arab News that the Israeli forces failed to arrest the sixth officer as he was not at home when they raided it.

Al-Aboushi said the five officers “were combating political crime in accordance with their leadership’s instructions.”

In a separate development, Hamas said on Friday that the security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrested seven of its members and supporters in the West Bank.

It said in a press statement that the PA security forces arrested the seven persons in the cities of Jenin, Salfeet, Tulkarm and Qalqilyah.

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials announced on Friday that a new date for parliamentary and presidential elections will be set next month now that President Abbas has agreed to postpone the January vote, though Hamas group maintains it will boycott the voting.