Israel arrests prominent Hamas leader, Palestinians say

Israeli troops raided the West Bank city of Nablus today, arresting a Hamas leader, Palestinian witnesses said.

Also today, an army force destroyed five houses in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

The violence came amid efforts to arrange a meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers.

The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said yesterday that the summit could take place this week. The meeting would be aimed at restarting stalled peace talks.

Officials have been trying for several weeks to arrange such a meeting. Both sides have expressed a desire to meet to rejuvenate efforts to implement the stalled “road map” peace plan, which envisions an immediate end to violence and the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that if the Palestinians did not make serious peace moves in the next few months, Israel would impose its own boundary on them.

Palestinians oppose an imposed solution, which would leave them with far less land than they want for a future state, saying that only a negotiated agreement can bring peace.

Sharon also faces opposition within his own Likud Party, since he said his plan would involve dismantling Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz today said that he would demand a debate on Sharon’s proposals at a Likud meeting early next month.

Egypt’s foreign minister, Ahmed Maher, is scheduled to arrive in Israel tomorrow. Maher said last week that the visit, his first to Israel in more than two years, is aimed at persuading the Israeli government to push forward with the road map.

An Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said today that Maher would be meeting Sharon, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and President Moshe Katsav. There was no word on planned meetings with the Palestinians.

Palestinian officials said they would not be meeting with Maher on Monday, but that they expect the Egyptian minister to return next week for talks with them.

In Nablus, troops arrested Hamas leader Adnan Asfour, said his brother, Said Asfour. Adnan Asfour is a prominent spokesman for the group in the West Bank.

The army refused to comment.

Most of the current Hamas leadership sits in the Gaza Strip, and Israel has killed or arrested most of the Hamas leaders in the West Bank during the more than three years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Troops surrounded the brother’s apartment building early today and called on all the residents of the five-story building to come out, before arresting Adnan, Said Asfour said.

Troops also took away a computer and a number of maps, he added.

In Gaza, troops entered the Rafah refugee camp along the Israel-Egyptian border and demolished five houses, witnesses and camp officials said. The troops also destroyed the remains of 20 previously demolished houses, they said.

The army said the raid targeted houses that had been used as cover to tunnel and place explosives under an army base last week. The army would not say how many houses had been destroyed.

Troops make frequent incursions into Rafah looking for weapons-smuggling tunnels and often demolish buildings used to cover tunnel construction.