MIDDLE EAST: Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has accused the US of giving Israel 'the green light', writes Michael Jansen
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, whose headquarters are in the West Bank city of Ramallah, remained confined to Gaza yesterday following Tuesday's agreement with Hamas on a document for achieving Palestinian statehood while implicitly recognising Israel.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas accused the US of giving "the green light" to Israel's operations in Gaza and the West Bank and urged the UN and the Arab League to take steps to end the Israeli offensive "before the situation gets complicated and the crisis gets worse".
Hamas legislator Mushir al-Masri condemned the arrest of seven of its ministers, 20 of its parliamentarians and a number of officials as "a pre-planned plot to destroy the [ Palestinian] Authority, the government and the parliament and to bring the Palestinian people to their knees".
Hamas ministers expected the detentions - Israel admitted the list had been drawn up several weeks ago and approved by its attorney general on Wednesday.
The Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator, Dr Saeb Erekat, said: "We have no government, we have nothing. They have all been taken.
"This is absolutely unacceptable and we demand their release immediately." Dr Erekat is a confidant of President Mahmoud Abbas.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, said the detentions constituted an attempt to blackmail the group to gain information about the Israeli soldier seized on Sunday.
Hamas is asking for the release of 408 women and minor prisoners in exchange for information about him.
A Hamas member in Gaza called the demand for the release of prisoners "natural". He observed: "Women and children have special significance for us", and insisted that Hamas would not back down on its demand.
Dr Mahdi Abdel Hadi, head of a Palestinian think tank in Jerusalem, asserted: "Israel is executing a well-prepared plan to eliminate Hamas. Its military action is a repeat of Ariel Sharon's 1982 invasion of Lebanon and 2002 reoccupation of the West Bank, which were designed to eliminate Yasser Arafat."
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert "is another Sharon", Dr Abdel Hadi said. "Israel cannot afford to see Hamas emerge as a model in the region. Israel does not want to see Hamas become another Hizbullah" - the Lebanese Shia fundamentalist group which, after forcing Israel to pull out of Lebanon, has become a powerful mainstream political party in that country.