Four days before rival Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah party resume their inter-reconciliation dialogue in Cairo, the Islamic movement accused Abbas security forces of detaining dozens of its West Bank members in the past two days.
On Tuesday, Hamas announced that it decided to suspend all field meetings with Fatah party leaders in the West Bank, as a protest against the ongoing arrests against Hamas members and activists conducted by the security forces of President Abbas.
Mahmoud al-Rumhi, a Hamas lawmaker here, told Xinhua that Hamas representatives in the reconciliation committee will restrain from joining meetings with their Fatah counterparts unless the security forces stop hunting down Hamas supporters and free all activists.
Earlier media reports had revealed that Hamas and Fatah delegations are due to arrive in Egypt on Saturday to continue the dialogue but Salah al-Bardaweel, a Hamas lawmaker, said that the delegation will not hold any talks with Fatah unless the prisoners are freed.
Senior Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Radwan denied Wednesday that a Hamas delegation has arrived in Cairo to prepare for a sixth round of dialogue, adding "Hamas is the one which will make its final decision to join the dialogue, or not, depending on the recent developments in the West Bank."
Hamas has threatened that if Abbas security forces fail to free 750 Hamas prisoners from its jails in the West Bank and stop daily arrests, it will seriously consider boycotting the upcoming session of dialogue due to be resumed in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas on June 28.
Radwan added that suspending the field meetings with Fatah counterparts in the West Bank and Gaza "was a result of no commitment of Fatah to what has been agreed upon, and also a result of the ongoing increase of arrests against our members in the West Bank."
In a leaflet published on Wednesday, Hamas movement accused President Abbas's security forces of arresting 100 of its West Bank members within the last two days. However, it only published the names of 40 arrested.
Hamas's accusations of Fatah came two days after President Abbas instructed his security apparatuses chiefs to free Hamas political prisoners, mainly those whose release won't threaten the security and stability in the West Bank.
Only 20 Hamas prisoners were released early this week, where Hamas says there are hundreds still imprisoned in the West Bank and they should be immediately released.
Senior Fatah leader in the West Bank Azzam el-Ahmed also accused Hamas movement of detaining dozens of Fatah activists and members in the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by the Islamic movement since June 2007.
"They (Hamas) only talk about their prisoners in the West Bank, and they totally deny that there are dozens of Fatah activists, leaders and even supporters who are still held in its prisoners in Gaza," el-Ahmed said.
However, Hamas government, which has administrated the Gaza Strip, denied on Wednesday that its security forces hold any Fatah members for political reasons, adding all the prisoners were detained for criminal or security reasons.
Ihab al-Ghussein, spokesman of Hamas's Ministry of Interior in Gaza, said in a statement that there are no Fatah party political prisoners held in Gaza Hamas jails.
Al-Ghussein's statement was made shortly after an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation visited a main Hamas prison in Gaza. The ICRC representatives checked the humanitarian circumstances of the prisoners.
Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas movement's spokesman in Gaza, said in a press statement that the continuation of political arrests in the West Bank "is evidence that Fatah is not serious in achieving reconciliation."
He accused Fatah movement of trying to eliminate his movement in the West Bank, adding that, "Abbas's statements on his decision to free Hamas prisoners was just a kind of propaganda aimed at misleading the public opinion."
Egypt, which mediates the dialogue between the two rival movements, insists that a reconciliation agreement should be signed in Cairo on July 7.