Israel arrested Mahmoud al-Ramahi, the Secretary General of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) from the radical Hamas movement in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday afternoon, an Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed according to dpa. Al-Ramahi was detained at his home by Israeli military forces, which reportedly called on the secretary general by name to hand himself over to the Israeli army force, Palestinian witnesses said. The witnesses added they saw al-Ramahi being arrested by the Israeli soldiers as he was coming out of his house. Al-Ramahi's arrest follows a long list of Hamas movement officials detained by Israel over the last two months since the movement's armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for abducting an Israeli soldier in Gaza in June 25. Israel has refused to negotiate the soldier' release, saying he should be freed unconditionally. Most recently, Israel had detained Deputy Palestinian Prime Minister Nasser al-Shaer and PLC Speaker Aziz Dweik.
