GAZA CITY - The governing Hamas movement accused Israel Thursday of launching an "open war" to destroy the Palestinian government after detaining a number of its ministers and lawmakers in the West Bank.
The arrests represent "an open war against the government, the people and Palestinian legitimacy which aims to destroy the government," said deputy speaker Ahmed Bahar, a member of Hamas.
"We condemn the arrests and hold the Israeli government responsible for the consequences of this dangerous aggression," he said, calling on the international community to intervene.
06/29/2006 01:30 GMT