Israel arrests Hamas minister, says security source

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israeli soldiers arrested a member of the Hamas-led Palestinian government early today in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian security officials said.

The arrest of Labour Minister Mohammed Barghouthi came amid an Israeli army incursion into the Gaza Strip to try to release a soldier kidnapped during a cross-border raid by Hamas and other militants on Sunday.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said troops had carried out an operation in Ramallah but declined to give details.

The Israeli news website Ynet said troops took Barghouthi into custody at a roadblock, and that soldiers had deployed in several streets in a Ramallah neighbourhood.

Israeli soldiers conducted arrests around Ramallah on Wednesday, apparently during a search for a missing Jewish settler whom a Palestinian militant group claims to have abducted.

Israel briefly detained another Hamas cabinet member in April, after stopping his car in an area of the occupied territory where Israel restricts Palestinian movement.

Hamas took over the government in March after winning parliamentary elections.

- REUTERS