ISRAEL ARRESTS HAMAS LEADERS WITH TERROR LINKS

Hamas Leaders with Terror Links Arrested
"The Hamas government stands at the head of the Palestinian Authority with a very clear objective to destroy the State of Israel," Southern Command head Maj.-Gen. Yoav Gallant said Wednesday. Among the Hamas leaders arrested are: Minister of Labor Mohammed Barghouti, linked to operations by the military wing of Hamas in Ramallah. Abad al-Gaber Fukah, a member of the legislative council, with an extensive past in the Hamas military wing. Naif Rajub, a minister in the Hamas government and a known extremist who has incited Palestinians against Israel and encouraged terror attacks. Haled Abu Arfa, a minister for Jerusalem in the Palestinian government, who has been arrested several times due to his activities. Adnan Atzpor of Nablus, a prominent Hamas activist responsible for recruiting others. Vagia Nezal, who serves as the mayor of Kalkilya who was released from his latest arrest in April. Nazel was part of the Hamas infrastructure in Kalkilya, which was responsible for deadly terror attacks in Israel including the suicide bombing at the dolphinarium disco in Tel Aviv five years ago. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel Plans to Arrest More Hamas Leaders - Amos Harel and Jonathan Lis
Israel plans to arrest additional senior Hamas officials. The head of IDF's Central Command, Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh, said Thursday that "we are in the middle of a strategic campaign against the Hamas. There is a new situation in which the elected government of the Palestinian Authority encourages and initiates terrorism, and therefore we proceeded with the arrest of Hamas members. The steps against Hamas terrorism will continue, tonight and also in the nights to come." (Ha'aretz)

Arrests Show New Israel Line Against Hamas - Steven Erlanger
Israel arrested a third of the Palestinian cabinet and 23 Hamas legislators in the West Bank on Thursday, a move that Israeli officials said indicated a significant change in Israel's policy toward the Hamas government. The arrests are partly intended to warn Hamas leaders that they could lose their power and liberty unless they act to release a captured Israeli soldier, a senior Israeli military official said. But Israel has also concluded that Hamas, which had largely kept to a cease-fire before, is now openly engaged in violent acts against Israel and must be treated differently. Israeli officials said Thursday that they had agreed to let Palestinian parliamentary elections go ahead five months ago, despite the participation of Hamas, under American pressure.

"So long as they were smart enough not to openly exercise terror, no one touched them," said the senior Israeli military officer. "But now they've gone back to it, so we have the right to deal differently with this terrorist government and try to remove them." The Israelis cited Hamas' firing of Kassam rockets beginning this month, its public declaration that the cease-fire with Israel was over, and its open involvement in the raid into Israeli territory Sunday that resulted in the deaths of two Israeli soldiers and the capture of a wounded corporal, Gilad Shalit, 19. The arrests of the Hamas political leaders, under criminal law, for alleged membership in a terrorist organization and involvement in terrorist acts, were approved this week by the attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, "because he agreed that the public interest has changed, and there are moments a state can say, 'We have a public interest in activating the criminal law,'" said Jacob Galanti, the Justice Ministry spokesman. (NYT)

Offensive Pushes Hamas Government Near Collapse - Matthew Tostevin
With most ministers either in hiding or in the hands of Israeli forces on Thursday, the Hamas-led Palestinian government functioned in little more than name. The Israeli offensive aimed at bringing home a captured soldier threatens to finish off the Islamist militant group's attempt at elected government. "Our goal here is defensive. It's to stop the terrorism. It is not to nation-build on the Palestinian side," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. The collapse of the Hamas government would bring few tears in Israel or the U.S.-led countries that have imposed an aid embargo to force Hamas to recognize Israel, renounce violence, and accept past peace accords. PA Chairman Abbas and his Fatah movement, caught in a power struggle with the Islamists, would also be happy to see Hamas brought down.

Some Hamas officials actually argue that the latest violence could be used as a valid excuse to step down from a government that had already been brought to the edge of collapse by the Western aid cuts. "Since day one, we have known that this government will not finish its term," said one senior Hamas official. This could also suit some within its military wing who would be happy to resume an all-out campaign of suicide bombings, shootings, and rocket attacks that was put on hold by a truce early in 2005. (Reuters)

NEEDLESS TO SAY, FRANCE IS CALLING FOR ISRAEL TO RELEASE THESE MURDERERS.