GAZA CITY, Dec 16: The Palestinian Authority has closed 33 premises of radical Islamist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the past two days, Palestinian police said on Sunday.

They were shut under orders issued by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Wednesday, following a spate of suicide attacks against Israel carried out by the two groups, which provoked Israeli fury.

Three were closed in the Gaza Strip before dawn Sunday, taking the total to 16, while in the West Bank five were barred overnight in Al Khalil. Of the 12 others — six in Nablus, five in Jenin and one in Tulkarem — 10 were used by Hamas and two by Islamic Jihad, police said.

In Nablus a press office linked to each of the two movements was among the premises closed.

In each case, the premises were padlocked and the police painted inscriptions forbidding their reopening. The Israelis have accused Arafat and the Palestinian Authority of doing too little to crack down on the radical groups.—AFP