MIDDLE EAST: Israeli troops arrested dozens of Hamas ministers and lawmakers in a night-time swoop in the West Bank early yesterday, while prime minister Ehud Olmert delayed a planned operation in northern Gaza meant to stop the firing of rockets by Palestinian militants into Israel.
Meanwhile, the body of a teenage settler was found overnight on Wednesday, buried near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Eliyahu Asheri (18), from the settlement of Itamar near Nablus, had been missing since Sunday and the militant Popular Resistance Committees, a small armed group, claimed it had abducted him. The body was found with a gunshot wound to the head.
Israeli military officials said the teenager had been killed shortly after being kidnapped.
In southern Gaza, an Israeli operation aimed at putting pressure on the Palestinians to release a soldier abducted on Sunday by militants at a base just inside Israel, on the border with the Gaza Strip, entered its second day. Israeli intelligence officials believe Cpl Gilad Shalit (19) is being held in southern Gaza, which is where Israel has focused its military operation so far.
Troops continued yesterday to hold positions just inside Gaza, while military aircraft targeted metal foundries, where Israel believes weapons are being made, and militant training camps in southern Gaza.
Israeli aircraft also targeted a vehicle carrying a member of the militant Islamic Jihad group, but the man escaped before the missile struck. There have been no casualties so far in the Israeli raid.
The decision by Israel to hold off on a push into northern Gaza was apparently linked to a request by Egyptian officials, who are involved in mediation efforts aimed at winning the release of the kidnapped soldier, to allow more time for diplomatic efforts.
In a meeting with security chiefs, Israeli defence minister Amir Peretz said there was still a chance of significant diplomatic developments regarding the soldier's release. However, mediators involved in efforts to free Cpl Shalit said yesterday there had been no tangible progress.
In the West Bank, eight ministers and 20 members of parliament were among the 64 Hamas officials arrested by Israeli troops early yesterday morning.
Those arrested included the deputy prime minister and the finance minister.
(There are of 23 Hamas cabinet ministers and 72 lawmakers.)
In a statement released last night, Israel's justice ministry said the Hamas officials had been arrested because of their "membership in . . . a terrorist organisation" and that further arrests were expected.
"The masquerade ball is over," Mr Peretz said. "The suits and ties will not serve as cover for the involvement and support of kidnappings and terror."
A spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry said the Hamas officials had not been arrested for the purpose of using them as bargaining chips in the release of the abducted soldier. Government officials added that the arrest operation had been planned weeks ago.
However Maj Gen Yair Naveh, the head of the army's central command, where the Hamas men are being held, said the decision to carry out the arrests had come "from the political echelon" and that if Cpl Shalit was released, "the political level's perspective could change".
Palestinian leaders condemned the arrests, which could make it impossible for the Hamas-led government to function. Lawmaker Saeb Erekat, who is close to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, called the Israeli action "absolutely unacceptable" and demanded the Hamas officials be released "immediately".
The G8 industrialised countries released a statement yesterday expressing concern over the arrests. "We call on Israel to exercise utmost restraint in the current crisis," G8 foreign ministers said in a joint statement.