RAMALLAH: Israeli forces operating in West Bank cities arrested 15 Palestinians early Thursday, Israeli and Palestinian security sources said.
The Palestinian sources told Arab News that the civilians were arrested in the West Bank governorates of Jenin, Hebron, Qalqilyah, Toubas, Nablus and Ramallah.
They added that the Israeli soldiers stormed the detainees' homes and searched them.
Israeli security sources told the Army Radio the detainees were transferred to unknown locations for questioning.
The arrests came as a senior Palestinian official said that the prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Germany, would be finalized soon.
Issa Qaraqi’, the Palestinian Minister of Detainees and Ex-Detainees, said in a press statement that the deal to free captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners would be completed within 10 days.
“Differences are narrower now, and talks are focusing on a few remaining names,” he added.
Hamas and Israel are keeping details of the deal secret. Shalit has been held in Hamas captivity since June 2006.
“The German mediator is still exerting efforts to overcome the remaining differences,” said Qaraqi’, adding a deal is imminent unless Israel introduces new obstacles. Senior Hamas officials said differences between Hamas and Israel concern about 51 prisoners whom Israel says is not on the list to be released from its jails.
He expressed the hope that the deal would end the blockade that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip for over three years. The West Bank-based minister denied there has been any coordination between his ministry in Ramallah and Hamas movement in Gaza. However, he said the Palestinian Authority is closely following major developments in talks.
He said his ministry is willing to contact the Hamas movement in Gaza and offer any advice in order to finalize the deal.
Qaraqi' also denied earlier Israeli media reports which said that the incarcerated Fatah leader Marwan Al-Barghouthi and leader of the Popular Front to Liberate Palestine (PFLP) Ahmed Sa’adat had asked to be deported after their release.
“There are a number of prisoners who will be expelled to other countries. This subject hasn't been closed yet between Israel and Hamas,” said Qaraqi', adding that all the prisoners in Israeli jails are living in a state of suspense.
“We hope that the deal will succeed in releasing hundreds of prisoners,” said Qaraqi'.
Meanwhile, Hamas official Osama Hamdan said that there was no truth in reports on Thursday that Shalit had been transferred to Egypt.
The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported Thursday that Shalit was transferred to Egypt recently in preparation for the prisoner exchange deal with Israel.
The paper quoted sources that said Shalit had been escorted to Egypt by Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar and the commander of the group’s military wing, Ahmad Al-Ja’bari.
Shalit was reportedly transported over the border on a bus under heavy Egyptian security.
The move was apparently the result of an Egyptian demand in order to verify the sincerity of Hamas’ intentions to move ahead with a deal.
In another development, Jewish occupiers on Thursday vowed to continue and resist the Israeli security forces and inspectors sent to enforce the construction freeze in West Bank Jewish settlements.
“We reiterated our position of principle that we did not come to negotiate. We are opposed to the building freeze orders and will continue to oppose them both through civil disobedience and legal challenges,” Danny Dayan, the head of the council of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories, said on Israeli Radio.
Dayan’s remarks came after a two-hour meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the heads of settlements council in Tel Aviv on Thursday to discuss the government’s decision to impose a 10-month freeze on West Bank settlement building.
