Zionist militants arrested a Hamas leader and a member of the movement’s electoral list in the West Bank this morning.
This morning (Tuesday, April 6), Zionist militants arrested Hassan al-Wardian, a leader of the Hamas movement and a member of the movement’s electoral list, in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.
According to the Quds news website, local sources said that forces of the occupying army arrested Al-Wardian in Bethlehem this morning and arrested him. He is one of the leaders of the Hamas movement and one of the candidates on the “Al-Quds Mo’adna” list.
The Hamas leader has been arrested several times along with his two sons, Mahmoud and Asid, and has even been held captive for several years.
As the time for elections in Palestine approaches, the arrest of Hamas leaders by the Zionists has increased.
Hamas and various Palestinian factions have previously warned of the Zionist regime’s attempt to interfere in the Palestinian Legislative Assembly elections and obstruct the process, and called for a united stance to prevent the Zionists from achieving their goals.
Hussam Badran, a member of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), had made it clear a few weeks ago that the Zionist regime would do its utmost to prevent Hamas from winning the next Palestinian election.
He added: “Israel has warned Hamas leaders in the West Bank about participating in the upcoming Palestinian elections and has arrested a number to prevent the movement from winning the elections.”
Late last December, Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, set a date for parliamentary elections (legislature) after a 15-year hiatus and presidential elections after a 16-year hiatus and National Assembly elections.
In a decree, he emphasized that the parliamentary elections will be held on May 22, 2021 (June 1, 1400), the presidential elections on July 31 (August 9, 1400) and the National Assembly on August 31 (September 9).
In the previous Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, Hamas ran for the first time. Since the dramatic victory of this movement over the Fatah movement was quite predictable, the Zionist regime did not spare any effort to obstruct the election process and the victory of Hamas, and not only arrested many of its candidates and leaders before the elections, but also Victory in the election also captured dozens of members of the movement, including Aziz al-Dawik, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Assembly, who now had legal immunity.