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 Ariha ('Jericho') on Tuesday morning.
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 seizure of a soldier by combatant groups in Gaza. He was held for almost two years at that time and re-taken in 2009.
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.
End item/ 129
