Palestinian sources said that the Israeli forces detained Omar Abdulraziq, a member of Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and a former Hamas minister of finance, after storming his house in the town of Salfeet, to the south of Nablus. The other two Palestinians were arrested in other West Bank cities.

Abdulraziq's family said that the Israeli soldiers broke into his house, conducted search and later detained their relative. The soldiers also seized the legislator's mobile and several computers, his family said. The Israeli Army said he is being questioned for suspicion of involvement in terrorist activity.

It is the second time that Abdulraziq is detained by Israeli soldiers after he spent three years and a half in the prison. In June 2006, he was arrested together with 65 top Hamas officials, including ministers of the Hamas government and Parliament members in response to the capturing of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The arrest ended his stint as finance minister in the 10th Palestinian government which was dominated by Hamas figures.

Muna Mansur, also a Hamas lawmaker, expressed concern that there is an Israeli plan to arrest other West-Bank based Hamas legislators.

In another development, Israeli warplanes carried out an air strike in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing one man and injuring another, as tensions along the border remained high, Palestinian sources said.

The Israeli military confirmed the attack near the southern city of Khan Yunis, saying it targeted a member of Islamic Jihad who “was involved in planning a massive terrorist attack in the heart of Israel.”

“This operation disrupts the execution of the attack by Islamic Jihad. That organization has been involved in the firing of rockets towards Israeli territory and IDF forces in the past few days,” a spokeswoman said. Adham Abu Selmiya, spokesman for the Hamas-run health services in the Gaza Strip, named the dead man as 25-year-old Mohammed Jamil Al-Najar.

The Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad militant group, said Najar was a member and pledged revenge for the attack.

“The blood of the martyrs will not be wasted and the response will come at the right time and place,” a statement said.

— With input from agencies