Israel captures Palestinian Parliament speaker

Israel captured Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian parliament, and a Hamas leader, at his house, as its army carried on with military assault in the southern Gaza Strip – parts of a month-long offensive in the territory said to be aimed at releasing the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit captured in June by a group of Palestinian resistance fighters.

Since the unjustified Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip broke out in June, the occupation forces have twice surrounded Dweik’s house but failed to capture him.

"We were sitting home peacefully, normally. Then we heard knocking on the door,” Mr Dweik's wife told Reuters.

"He went down because the army was there. He opened the door. They saw him in his pyjamas and asked him to go with them."

Palestinian Prime Minister and Hamas leader Ismail Haniya condemned the barbaric action, accusing Israel of "piracy".

It’s “another crime of piracy by the (Israeli) occupation against the elected representatives of our people,” the Palestinian PM said in a statement.

"We urge all Arab and international parliamentarians to condemn and denounce this crime and to secure the release of Aziz Dweik and all jailed ministers and lawmakers."

The Israeli military confirmed the detention of Dweik, a key member of the Palestinian resistance group and now the ruling Party, Hamas, claiming that he’s a “legitimate” target.

"Since Hamas is a terrorist organisation, he is a target for arrest," Israeli army spokesman told Reuters.

On 29 June, a few days after the Israeli army launched its bloody onslaught in Gaza, eight members of the Hamas-led government and 20 MPs were detained by the occupation forces, in a sweep described by Palestinian officials as “an act of war”.

Israeli Cabinet minister Ophir Pines boasted that there could be no comparison between Hamas holding one of the occupying soldiers and what he described as “Israel’s custody” of Palestinians Israel alleges are involved in “terrorist activity”.

“We allow people to see Palestinian prisoners,” he was quoted by The Associated Press as saying.

“We allow in many cases their families to visit, we hold them in prisons, people know where they are and we allow access by international organisations,” he further claimed.

The ruling party, Hamas, and one of the groups holding the Israeli soldier, announced earlier it would release Shalit if Israel agreed to free some of the Palestinian prisoners held in its prisoners, specially women and children.