Israel Arrests Fatah Official in West Bank

Israeli troops on Tuesday arrested an official from Fatah, the party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

A Fatah spokesman in Qalqilya confirmed Mohammed Walawil, 26, and his brother Tawfiq, 32, had been arrested at their home in the northern West Bank city in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

An Israeli military spokesman acknowledged the arrest of Walawil and a relative, but gave no further details.

The Israeli military has regularly arrested Hamas political figures in the West Bank, including members of the Palestinian parliament, and earlier this month it detained former Fatah lawmaker Hossam Khader, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.