Israel abducts second Palestinian legislator in 48 hours

Ma’an – Israeli forces detained Palestinian legislator Issa Khairy Aj-Ja’bari from his home in the Namra neighborhood of Hebron overnight.

The detention of the Hamas leader, elected in 2006, marks the second such detention in two days, after PLC member Ali Romanin was taken from his home in Al-Ouja village north of Jericho on Tuesday morning.

An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that two detentions were carried out in Hebron overnight.

Aj-Ja’bari was released from Israeli custody on March 31, 2010, after spending 14 months in prison. He was also detained in the summer of 2006, when Israeli forces rounded up Hamas officials in response to the capture of a soldier by a militant group in Gaza. He was held for almost two years at that time and re-taken in 2009.

Israel has come out against the Palestinian unity agreement, withholding millions in tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, saying it will wait to see the conditions of the unity deal, and hopes to make sure "not one shekel" goes to Hamas, which Israel considers a "terrorist organization."

Legislative council president Aziz Dweik condemned the latest detention, saying "no deputy is safe," and blaming Israel's reaction to the decision to unite the Palestinian people under one government.

"Israel is furious because their policy [of division] failed," he said.