Israeli authorities on Monday announced the arrest of an alleged Hamas operative for involvement in the deadly shooting of an Israeli police officer in the West Bank over the Passover holiday in April, according to The Associated Press.
The announcement came as Israel pressed forward with a crackdown against Hamas across the West Bank in response to the disappearance of three Israeli teenagers more than a week ago, the AP reported.
In a joint announcement, the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency said Monday they arrested Ziad Awad, a 42-year-old Hamas operative in the West Bank, and his 18-year-old son, according to the AP. They said the elder Awad was among more than 1,000 prisoners freed in 2011 in exchange for a captive Israeli soldier held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
In the April 14 shooting, gunmen fired at civilian vehicles traveling in the West Bank, killing a senior Israeli police commander on his way to a traditional Passover dinner with relatives, the AP reported. The officer's wife was critically wounded and a child in another car was also hurt, while the assailants fled the scene.
The arrests took place weeks before the alleged kidnapping of the Israeli youths, but since the abduction on June 12, Israel has rounded up dozens of other Hamas operatives freed in the 2011 prisoner swap, according to the AP.
The kidnappings have prompted the largest Israeli ground operation in the West Bank in nearly a decade, as troops frantically search for the youths, the AP reported. Israel has said its secondary goal is to destroy Hamas "infrastructure" in the West Bank.
Since launching the operation, Israel has detained 361 Palestinians, including 250 Hamas operatives and 57 former prisoners released in 2011, according to the AP. The army said it has also raided 63 Hamas civilian institutions. The teens have not been heard from and no demands have emerged from their captors.
