By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel arrested Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), at an army checkpoint on Thursday.

The arrest happened in Jaba, which is located between Ramallah and Jerusalem. Dweik was traveling by car to Hebron when he was arrested.

Israel has confirmed the arrest with Israeli border troops saying he was detained for “involvement in terrorist activities.”

Witnesses said that the troops handcuffed and blindfolded Dweik before taking him away.

Dweik is a member of the Islamist Hamas movement, which governs the Palestinian territory of Gaza.  He currently resides in the West Bank.

The BBC’s Wyre Davies in Jerusalem reports that it is likely that Dweik’s arrest will be seen as a provocative act and further proof that Israel is pursuing a policy of restricting the movement of senior Palestinian figures.

The arrest comes at a time full of rising tensions between Israel and the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip.  On Wednesday, Israeli aircrafts attacked targets in and around the border fence between Gaza and Israel.

This not the first time Dweik has been detained by Israel.  Last May, he was held at an Israeli military checkpoint in West Bank.  In 2006, Dweik was arrested and held for two years after Palestinian militants abducted an Israeli soldier.

Analysts note that approximately 20 of Hamas’s 74 MPs in the 132-member PLC are currently being held by Israel.

The Palestinian Parliament has not functioned since Hamas seized control of Gaza from Fatah in 2007.  Since then Fatah has governed the West Bank and Hamas has governed Gaza.

Hamas won the most seats in the Palestinian election of 2006, leading Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah, to call for new elections.  The disagreement quickly resulted into a brief war between the two sides.

Hamas’s interior tensions continue through the present day.

Earlier this week, Hamas came under attack by Palestinian rights groups who claim that the Sunni Muslim group is endorsing the harassment and detainment of Shi’a Muslims in the Gaza Strip.  Hamas is believed to have close ties to Iran, the Shi’a Islamic Republic.  However, according to Haaertz, the Israeli newspaper, Hamas is fighting back against some Shiite groups “out of fear of growing Iranian influence in Gaza.”

A recent statement from Hamas’s prime minister, Ismail Haniya, has confirmed rumors that a negotiation regarding a merger between Hamas and the militant organization Islamic Jihad is currently underway.  This merger is likely complicated by the fact that much of the support previously given to Hamas by Iran is now going to Islamic Jihad, who have previously chided Hamas for going soft.  Earlier attempts to merge the organizations have ended in failure.

It is unclear at this time how Israel would respond to such a merger.

Hamas has been identified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, and the European Union, due to its refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel.  Hamas’s charter does include a commitment to the destruction of Israel.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Israel arrests Palestinian parliament speaker — 19 Jan. 2012

BBC — Israel arrests senior Palestinian Aziz Dweik — 19 Jan. 2012

Voice of America — Israel Arrests Hamas Head of Palestinian Parliament — 19 Jan. 2012

Al Jazeera — Gaza Rights Groups Accuse Hamas of Abuses — 17 Jan. 2012

The Telegraph — The end of the affair between Hamas and Iran — 17 Jan. 2012