Israel Arrests Hamas Election Official

IDF and Shin Bet agents overnight Tuesday arrested Mahmad Abu Kwik, a top Hamas terrorist, it was reported on Wednesday morning. The arrest took place in Ramallah. Abu Kwik is the Hamas representative to the Palestinian Authority’s local elections commission. Palestinian Authority sources said that the arrest was an “attempt by Israel to influence the Palestinian municipal elections” which will be held in the coming weeks.

Hamas on Tuesday accused Israel of cooperating with Fatah to keep Hamas out of the elections. According to internal PA polls, Hamas is likely to sweep the elections, and Israel was accused of trying to swing the vote away from Hamas to Fatah-backed candidates.

Israel has not yet commented on the arrest.