On Wednesday morning, the IDF together with members of Israeli security services (Shin Bet) arrested Sheikh Jamal Tawil in Ramallah over his alleged work on behalf of the terror group. An IDF spokesperson told Israeli media that Tawil, a senior Hamas member in Judea and Samari was arrested by the Duvdevani unit together with the Shin Bet.

The statement said: “Tawil is a senior commander of the Hamas terror group in the Judea and Samaria, who recently took an active part in organizing riots, inciting violence and reforming Hamas’s headquarters in Ramallah.”

In response, Hamas issued a statement that decried the arrest and said that it would continue its efforts in the region. “The arrest of Sheikh Jamal al-Tawil will not silence the voice of the resistance in the West Bank. The sons of Hamas and its commanders are all soldiers of the resistance, and they will continue the path of freedom and liberation whatever the sacrifices.”

Tawil has previously been arrested many times, and has spent much of his life in and out of Israeli prison. Additionally, according to a Palestinian prisoner rights group al-Dameer, Tawil’s daughter Bushra who is linked to Hamas through her father and other sources, an works as an outspoken journalist, has been held in administrative detention since late December.

In addition to his current crimes, it is believed that Tawil planned a number of suicide bombings during the Second Intifada.

Tawil’s arrest came amid a general crackdown on Hamas activities in the West Bank in recent days as a result of the widespread protests that took place in mixed cities inside Israel, which may have been fomented by elements of the terror present in Judea and Samaria.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)