Israel army arrests Palestinian students over 'terror' allegations
An Israeli soldier aims a tear gas gun in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Shuafat, neighbouring the Israeli settlement of Ramat Shlomo, in Israeli annexed east Jerusalem
Israeli army said on Thursday that it made an arrest of dozens of Palestinian students in West Bank. It has accused the students of being "terror operatives" of Islamic group Hamas.
AFP cited Palestinian source to say that the students from Birzeit University were arrested when they were returning from the village of Turmus Ayya. Israeli troops demolished a family home of a Palestinian American in this village earlier this month. The person was awaiting trial on charges of shooting a Jewish student earlier this year.
An Israeli army statement said: "Some of the apprehended terror operatives were directly involved in terror activities, including money transfers, incitement and the organisation of Hamas activities in Judea and Samaria," using the Biblical terms for the West Bank.
Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip and fought an 11-day conflict with Israel in May, is blacklisted by the EU and the US as a terrorist organisation.
A late Wednesday statement announcing the arrests said "dozens of terror operatives" belonging to "a student cell" at Birzeit University had been detained in a joint operation involving the army, police and the Shin Bet domestic security agency.
An army spokesperson told AFP on Thursday that the Shin Bet had taken over the investigation.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, the number of students arrested Wednesday was around 45, but 12 have since been released and the 33 still in detention were all male.
(With inputs from agencies)