Israel arrests Hamas head of Palestinian parliament

Israeli soldiers arrested senior Hamas official, Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian parliament on suspicion of involvement with terrorist groups on Thursday, the Israeli military and Hamas said.

Hamas said Dweik was taken into custody at a checkpoint near the city of Ramallah and it accused Israel of trying to prevent rival Palestinian factions from completing a unity deal. Dweik was arrested by Israel in 2006 and spent two years in jail.

Islamist group Hamas won a parliamentary election in 2006 and seized control of the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a brief civil war a year later, since when parliament has been inactive.

Hamas and Abbas's Fatah faction agreed a reconciliation deal last year, but it has yet to be implemented.

Israel, along with the United States and European Union, deems Hamas a terrorist group.