RAMALLAH: Hours after Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert on Monday promised to release 250 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to support President Mahmoud Abbas, his security forces operating in the West Bank apprehended 32 Palestinians yesterday.
Israeli and Palestinian security sources said that 20 Palestinians were arrested in Al-Fawwar refugee camp to the south of Hebron.
The Palestinian sources said that dozens of Israeli military vehicles carried out the biggest invasion in the camp since six months. Several houses were inspected and ransacked, and families were forced at gunpoint to leave their homes to the street, the sources added.
The Israeli sources said that troops seized two hunting rifles, ammunition and other military equipment during the raid.
In Nablus, Israeli forces arrested a girl from the village of Beit Fourik and three teenagers at the Huwwara and Beit Iba checkpoints south and west of the city. The Israeli forces claimed the teenagers were in possession of an explosive device and knives.
In the Bethlehem area, Israeli forces arrested eight residents from Al-Azza refugee camp and Nahhalin village.
Meanwhile the father of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit slammed Olmert’s gesture to release 250 Fatah prisoners in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha. “So far the release of Palestinian prisoners has not led to any positive reaction from Hamas regarding Shalit’s release,” Noam Shalit said on Monday.
“On the contrary, Hamas has doubled and tripled its demands time after time,” he added. “The necessary conclusion is that the release of Palestinian prisoners is not working in Shalit’s favor.”
The Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam reported yesterday that Abbas asked outgoing Prime Olmert to release jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.
The report added that Abbas also asked Olmert to release Popular Front Secretary General Ahmad Sa’dat, and Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker and Hamas member Aziz Dwaik.
In another development, the Palestinian Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ) reported that Israel demolished 90 Palestinian houses at the pretext of illegal construction since the US-sponsored Annapolis peace conference held in November last year.
ARIJ added in a report that Israel uses the pretext of unlicensed building as an excuse to displace Palestinians from their lands in blatant violation of international law.
According to ARIJ, 55 Palestinian houses were demolished by the Israeli authorities in occupied Jerusalem, where Israel aims through the demolition of homes to empty the holy city from its “native Arab residents”.
