NABLUS (West Bank), May 24: Israel seized 33 senior Hamas figures in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, including a minister, in the latest crackdown on the Islamists aimed at halting rocket fire from Gaza.

The overnight operation in the northern West Bank, mainly in the town of Nablus, targeted Palestinian education minister Nasseredin al-Shaer, three lawmakers and at least seven mayors, the army and officials said.

Defence Minister Amir Peretz told army radio the move against members of the main partner in the Palestinian unity government was “a message to armed wings of terrorist organisations to stop their rocket fire.” An Israeli military spokesman said the 33 were detained because they “supported the firing of rockets.

The arrests came amid continuing Israeli air strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, which were resumed after a six-month ceasefire in response to a sharp increase in rockets fired by militants, including those of Hamas.

Seven Palestinians were wounded in the latest air raids overnight that targeted two money exchange offices, a car and a store, security sources said.

The Israeli air raids have so far killed 12 civilians and 25 militants, but have failed to halt the rockets, with nearly 130 crashing inside Israel over the past week and a half, killing one, wounding 16 others and sending hundreds fleeing the town of Sderot that has borne the brunt of the fire.

Over the past few days the Israeli army closed several Hamas offices in the West Bank and searched offices of organisations close the movement, notably in the central city of Jericho and the southern city of Hebron.

Among those arrested on Thursday were three Hamas lawmakers in the Palestinian parliament, Hamad al-Bitawi, Daoud Abu Seir and Abdelrahman Zeidan, a former Hamas minister.

At least seven mayors of West Bank towns and villages, including Nablus and Qalqilya, were also nabbed.

Last year the army detained more than 60 Hamas officials, including four ministers, in a crackdown on the Islamists after their armed wing claimed joint responsibility for a deadly cross-border raid in which it seized an Israeli soldier near Gaza.

Thirty-nine lawmakers and two former minister remain in custody from last year's crackdown. Shaer was detained last August during the sweep, but ordered released by a military judge a month later for lack of evidence.—AFP