Hamas lawmaker arrested in the West Bank

Muhammad Abu Tir detained in overnight raids along with 14 others suspected of 'grassroots terrorism' and rioting

By Stuart Winer
  • Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
 28 January 2016, 11:35 am
Hamas MP Muhammad Abu Tir receives congratulations upon his release from prison, Ramallah, July 30, 2015 (Elhanan Miller/Times of Israel)

Israeli security forces arrested 15 Palestinians in the West Bank overnight Wednesday, among them a Hamas representative in the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Muhammad Abu Tir, 64, was arrested in Kafr Aqab, north of Jerusalem, reports said.

The Palestinian lawmaker has been arrested several times in the past. In 2012 he was released from a year of detention without charges and expelled from Jerusalem, and is banned from entering the capital.

In June 2015 he was again released following an arrest.

The other 14 suspects were detained for suspected involvement in “popular terrorism” and violent confrontations with Israeli civilians and security forces, the army said in a statement.

In the West Bank town of Tulkarem, soldiers seized an M-16 rifle along with magazines, ammunition and other military equipment.

A shortened M-16 assault rifle, with a scope and additional magazines, discovered by IDF forces in the Palestinian city of Tulkarem on January 28, 2016. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

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