Israeli forces have detained 197 Palestinians and raided 791 homes in the occupied West Bank in search for three missing Jewish settlers, a Palestinian rights group said Tuesday.
"The recent arrests are undoubtedly politically-driven," Fouad al-Khofsh, the head of Palestinian Ahrar rights group told reporters at the group's headquarters in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
According to al-Khofsh, most of those detained belong to the Gaza-based Hamas movement which Israel has accused of kidnapping the settlers.
The detainees include seven lawmakers, six members of the West Bank's Fatah movement, whose leader Mahmoud Abbas heads the Palestinian Authority, and two members of the Islamic Jihad group.
"During its campaign, the Israeli army raided and systematically vandalized 791 Palestinian homes, 570 of which in Hebron alone," al-Khofsh said, pointing out that 101 out of the detained Palestinians have also been taken from Hebron.
Al-Khofsh further called on the Palestinian Authority to "take a serious stance" from the current arrests and reject the singling-out of any Palestinian faction by Israel.
Tension has run high in the Palestinian territories since three settlers went missing late Thursday from the Jewish-only Gush Etzion settlement bloc, located near the southern West Bank city.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of abducting the trio, a claim categorically denied by the Palestinian group.
No Palestinian groups have thus far claimed responsibility for the alleged kidnapping.
By Lubaba Thuqan
englishnews@aa.com.tr
