Israeli soldiers have arrested a suspected militant leader in the West Bank town of Qalqilya – one of four towns due to be returned to Palestinian control. Akif Nazal, 38, of the Islamic Jihad group, was arrested overnight along with another suspected militant, Palestinian sources said. The arrests came ahead of talks which began on Sunday evening between senior Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on the transfer of control of the towns. Under a deal reached last week, Qalqilya and the Jordan valley town of Jericho are scheduled for handover this week, with Ramallah and Tulkarm following in about two weeks. A top Islamic Jihad official, Mohammed al-Hindi, told the French news agency AFP the latest arrest was “new evidence that Israel is continuing its escalation policy in the region to destroy efforts by all parties to cool the situation”. Full Story
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