After Israeli authorities arrested West Bank Hamas leader Hassan Youssef and Fatah’s Jerusalem Governor Adnan Ghaith, the Palestinian Authority accused the Israeli government of seeking to undermine Fatah-Hamas reconciliation efforts.
Dozens of field officials in both Hamas and Fatah were also arrested.
Fatah Secretary-General Jibril Rajoub condemned these arrests, accusing Israeli authorities of what he called “tampering” with the ongoing Palestinian reconciliation talks.
“This arrest is a continuation of the occupation’s approach to arresting dozens of our Palestinian people every day, and a continuation of the constant aggression against our people for decades. It comes within the framework of attempting to tamper with Palestinian affairs and influence the achievement of national unity,” Rajoub said.
“We hereby affirm that the arrest Sheikh Hassan Youssef by the occupation will not stop the path of unity for which he worked for the past two months,” Hamas said in a statement.
Fatah and Hamas movements have been at odds since 2007, but after reconciliation talks in Istanbul in late September, the two rival movements agreed to set a date for Palestinian legislative elections within the next six months.
The arrests coincided with an announcement by a government source in Tel Aviv that the Israeli Higher Council for Planning and Building will meet tomorrow, Sunday, to approve the construction of 5,400 settlement units in the West Bank.
Israel Hayom, which reported the news, revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed approval for the planned construction.
Almost half of the new homes will be built in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. The council will approve 2,929 housing units in the Haredi city.
Palestine condemned on Friday the Israeli plan to build 5,400 new units in the settlements in the West Bank.
Expanding Jewish settlements "is part of the (Israeli) unilateral moves to implement the US Deal of the Century" and its plan to "annex large parts of the West Bank," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in an emailed press statement.
This "disproves Israeli claim that it has frozen settlement to enable its normalization with Arab states" and "reflects the systematic American and Israeli violations of the international law and resolutions," the ministry added.
