JURIST - Paper Chase: Israel detains another Palestinian lawmaker

[JURIST] The Israel Defense Forces [official website] detained Fadl Hamdan, a member of the Palestinian parliament [official website, in Arabic], during an overnight raid early Monday morning in the West Bank. Israeli authorities did not explain their reason for the detention. Hamdan is one of about 30 Palestinian lawmakers detained in the last six weeks, along with nearly a third of the Palestinian cabinet. On Saturday, Israeli security forces detained the speaker of the Palestinian parliament [JURIST report], Aziz Dweik [official profile in Arabic; JMCC profile], after surrounding his home in Ramallah. An Israeli spokesman said that Dweik was a target for arrest because he is a high ranking member of Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist organization.

Israel seized eight Palestinian government ministers and some 20 legislators [JURIST report] on June 29 following the abduction of IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit [Wikipedia backgrounder] in Gaza. Last week, two of the men arrested - the Palestinian Minister for Prisoners' Affairs and a deputy speaker in the Palestinian Legislative Council who were released from Israeli custody earlier in the week - told reporters that they had been abused while detained [JURIST report]. Israeli officials said in June that the captured Palestinian lawmakers would be tried under standard criminal warrants [JURIST report] for membership in or leadership of a terrorist organization. BBC News has more. From Israel, Ynet has local coverage.

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