Well B”H more then half of them were arrested today – in a swift operation carried out throughout the West Bank and the Jerusalem area early Thursday Israeli forces apprehended some 60 Hamas government ministers, parliament members and activists in what appears to be an attempt to �decapitate� the organization�s leadership.

Among those arrested during the operation, which began shortly after midnight in Ramallah, Nablus, Qalqilya, Jenin and Jerusalem, are Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Nasser al-Shaer, Hamas government Labor Minister Muhammad Barghouti, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Khaled Abu Arfa and many other top officials.

Senior Hamas members Mahmoud Abu Tir and Mahmoud Atuan were apprehended in Jerusalem; most of the Palestinian Legislative Council members on Hamas� behalf were also detained in various West Bank cities.