GAZA CITY, (Islamweb & News Agencies)-The Palestinian security forces have arrested two activists belonging to the Islamic Resistance group Hamas, which said it carried out Thursday's Resistance bombing in Jerusalem. The move comes after renewed international pressure on the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, to act against militants of Hamas and another prominent militant group, Islamic Jihad. (Read photo caption below)Hamas named the two detained militants as Abdullah and Bilal Barghouti and said they were arrested within the last 48 hours.
Mr. Arafat had previously ignored the international pressure on him to rein in activists from groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. There is strong opposition in the Palestinian territories to such arrests. People there believe that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is ultimately responsible for violence such as Thursday's pizza restaurant bombing.Hamas has responded angrily to the detentions, with one local leader of the group arguing that such arrests should have ended when the intifada began. He warned that such action by the Palestinian authorities could turn the Palestinian people against each other.
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Hamas, the main Islamist movement in the Palestinian territories, was born soon after the previous intifada erupted in 1987. The organisation opposes the Oslo peace process and its short-term aim is a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories. Political observers meanwhile, describe Islamic Jihad as a mysterious presence among militant Palestinian groups. The faction has a small support base. Unlike the far bigger Hamas, which runs schools and hospitals, Islamic Jihad has no real social or political role. The group is based in the Syrian capital, Damascus.