Israel arrests Hamas minister: security sources

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Israeli soldiers arrested a
member of the Hamas-led Palestinian government early on
Thursday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian
security officials said.

The arrest of Labour Minister Mohammed Barghouthi came amid
an Israeli army incursion into the Gaza Strip to try to release
a soldier kidnapped during a cross-border raid by Hamas and
other militants on Sunday.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said troops had carried out an
operation in Ramallah but declined to give details.

The Israeli news Web site Ynet said troops took Barghouthi
into custody at a roadblock, and that soldiers had deployed in
several streets in a Ramallah neighbourhood.

Israeli soldiers conducted arrests around Ramallah on
Wednesday, apparently during a search for a missing Jewish
settler whom a Palestinian militant group claims to have
abducted.

Israel briefly detained another Hamas cabinet member in
April, after stopping his car in an area of the occupied
territory where Israel restricts Palestinian movement.

Hamas took over the government in March after winning
parliamentary elections.