Palestinian Authority steps up crackdown against Hamas activists in the West Bank

Hamas official says PA actions “unjustified” and constitute a “blow to the blood of Palestinian martyrs and unity."

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Hamas operatives in Gaza. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Hamas operatives in Gaza.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian Authority security agencies in the West Bank on Saturday stepped up their crackdown on Hamas activists.
Hamas said that more than 40 of its members and supporters have been rounded up by the PA since the end of Operation protective Edge.
Another 30 Hamas activists were also summoned for interrogation, Hamas said.
On Saturday, Hamas representative Hussam Badran condemned the PA clampdown and called on all those who have been summoned for interrogation not to report.
Badran said that the crackdown was “unjustified” and constituted a “blow to the blood of Palestinian martyrs and unity."
The PA has refused to comment on the current crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank.
However, Palestinians believe it is related to recent claims that Hamas had planned to stage a coup against the PA.
They said that the crackdown is also linked to charges that Hamas had targeted hundreds of Fatah members in the Gaza Strip during the war.
Fatah says that dozens of its men were shot in the legs by Hamas militias for violating house arrest. More than 300 Fatah men were placed confined to their homes in the Gaza Strip during the war.
Most of those who were targeted by the PA security forces are former prisoners who served time in Israeli and Palestinian jails.
As part of the crackdown, the PA also prevented a number of pro-Hamas preachers from delivering sermons during Friday prayers in West Bank mosques