Israeli authorities picked up 64 Hamas government officials last week in an operation designed to further pressure the terrorists to return IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit. Hamas terrorists kidnapped the IDF soldier one week ago in a raid on an IDF outpost near the Gaza border and are holding him hostage.
All eight of the ministers picked up by Israeli security forces were located in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. The suddenly-vacated ministerial posts were not filled by new appointees, however. Haniyeh transferred the portfolios to existing ministers, all of whom are located in Gaza. The remaining cabinet members have essentially doubled their duties. They have gone into hiding and are not available by phone, fearing arrest or assassination by Israeli forces.
Haaretz reports that PA deputy prime minister Nasser Shaer hid for most of last week, and did not respond to phone calls. On Monday he was back at work in his Ramallah office, but continued to avoid the phone and refused requests for news interviews.
The situation has made it difficult for the PA government to function, although one official said it was not unusual for ministers to be missing for long periods of time. Ziad Abu Ayin, responsible for prisoner affairs in the PA, told an interviewer, “The functioning of the government has been severely undermined, and it will take some time for us to learn to cope with this crisis.”
The Israel Air Force’s weekend strike on Haniyeh’s office did not make the situation any easier, Abu Ayin added: “The problem is expected to worsen now, in the wake of the strike on the prime minister’s office. Everyone will now be afraid to go to their offices, and ministerial and governmental decisions are required – even when it comes to the matter of repairing a bridge in Gaza.”
The IAF destroyed three bridges in Gaza on the first day of “Operation Summer Rains,” the military operation to rescue Shalit and put an end to the Kassam rocket attacks on Sderot.
All eight of the ministers picked up by Israeli security forces were located in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. The suddenly-vacated ministerial posts were not filled by new appointees, however. Haniyeh transferred the portfolios to existing ministers, all of whom are located in Gaza. The remaining cabinet members have essentially doubled their duties. They have gone into hiding and are not available by phone, fearing arrest or assassination by Israeli forces.
Haaretz reports that PA deputy prime minister Nasser Shaer hid for most of last week, and did not respond to phone calls. On Monday he was back at work in his Ramallah office, but continued to avoid the phone and refused requests for news interviews.
The situation has made it difficult for the PA government to function, although one official said it was not unusual for ministers to be missing for long periods of time. Ziad Abu Ayin, responsible for prisoner affairs in the PA, told an interviewer, “The functioning of the government has been severely undermined, and it will take some time for us to learn to cope with this crisis.”
The Israel Air Force’s weekend strike on Haniyeh’s office did not make the situation any easier, Abu Ayin added: “The problem is expected to worsen now, in the wake of the strike on the prime minister’s office. Everyone will now be afraid to go to their offices, and ministerial and governmental decisions are required – even when it comes to the matter of repairing a bridge in Gaza.”
The IAF destroyed three bridges in Gaza on the first day of “Operation Summer Rains,” the military operation to rescue Shalit and put an end to the Kassam rocket attacks on Sderot.