“Israelis” seize Fatah legislator

Source: BBC, 30-5-2007
"Israeli" troops have detained a member of the Palestinian parliament said to have close ties with a militant offshoot of the mainstream Fatah party.
Jamal Tirawi was seized during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus.
In the past year "Israel" has held dozens of sitting MPs from the militant winner of the 2006 elections, Hamas, but he is the first from the rival Fatah group.
Two Palestinian militants were killed in an air raid at Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza, Palestinian sources said.
An "Israeli" military spokesman said "armed terrorists in the Jabaliya camp" had been hit in the air raid, but gave no more details.
Hamas said the men were members of its military faction.
Earlier on Tuesday, "Israeli" troops killed two other armed Hamas members as part of ongoing efforts to stem rocket attacks.
Crackdown
About 50 Palestinians have been killed in nearly two weeks of "Israeli" air strikes on the crowded coastal strip.
Meanwhile, Palestinians have fired more than 230 rockets into "Israel" in the last two weeks, killing two "Israelis".
Hamas said Tuesday`s raid into Gaza took place near the Sufa border crossing in the southern end of the strip.
Details of the raid were murky. Witnesses quoted by Associated Press said "Israeli" forces searched three houses and arrested two brothers with ties to Hamas. A gun battle erupted, and two militants were killed.
It is the second time in the latest round of fighting that "Israeli" forces entered Gaza, from which "Israel" withdrew troops and settlers in the summer of 2005.
On Tuesday, Mr Abbas proposed a new truce between militants and "Israel" as he announced the meeting with Mr Olmert.
But in a speech to "Israel's" parliament, Mr Olmert said he had "no intention of reaching any kind of settlement, neither with Hamas nor with Islamic Jihad. We will hit them and continue to hit them."
Detained MPs
Detained Fatah MP Mr. Tirawi is the party`s spokesman in the Palestinian parliament.
An "Israeli" military spokeswoman confirmed Mr Tirawi was taken into custody along with six other wanted militants.
A Fatah spokesman condemned the arrests and called on international help to make "Israel" "abandon its colonial mentality contradicting the principles of human rights and democracy".
In the last week, "Israel" has detained more than 30 Hamas officials in the West Bank, including two cabinet ministers.
"Israel" now holds more than a third of the members of the 132-seat Palestinian Legislative Council on security grounds.
They include 40 Hamas MPs, one from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and four Fatah members, three of whom were elected while in jail.
The PLC - which holds TV-linked meetings in Gaza and the West Bank - can still take decisions if there is a quorum of half its members plus one at parliament meetings.