Israel Arrests Palestinian Parliament Speaker

GAZA (NNN-KUNA) -- Israel has arrested Speaker of the Palestinian Parliament Abdel Aziz Duaik at a crossing point in northern Jerusalem.

Local radio stations said Israeli soldiers collared the Palestinian Speaker near Ramallah while he was crossing an Israeli checkpoint Thursday.

Israeli forces forced Duaik to get off his car, handcuffed him, and took him blindfolded to an unknown place, they said. The Israeli military had no comment on the arrest.

The Palestinian Parliament has not functioned since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 from the rival Palestinian Fatah Party. Since then, Fatah governs the West Bank while Hamas rules Gaza.

Duaik was arrested along with other Hamas officials in 2006 after militants abducted an Israeli soldier. He was released in 2009. -- NNN-KUNA