Islamic Jihad Says Fatah Forces Arrested One of its Fighters

Wednesday December 24, 2008 00:06 by IMEMC News

The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine stated that security forces loyal to the Fatah movement in the West Bank arrested on Tuesday evening one of the fighters of the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, in Tubas .

Islamic Jihad

The fighter was identified as Nour Sawafta. He was arrested after Palestinian security forces broke into his home in the West Bank city of Tubas.

Sawafta is the brother of Salah Swafta, an old resistance fighter of the al-Quds Brigades who was killed by the Israeli Army.  Salah was targeted by Israel for several years.

The Islamic Jihad said that masked members of the Fatah security forces attacked Swafta and his family in front of dozens of residents, then took him to a security compound in the area.

At the center, Swafta was reportedly tortured, and was later moved to a local hospital.  He suffered fractures in several parts of his body.

Swafta was previously imprisoned by Israel, and was only released months before he was detained by the Palestinian security forces.  The Islamic Jihad said that members of the Preventive Security Forces, also loyal to Fatah, insulted sheikh Adnan Khader, one of the leaders of the movement, after he gave a speech at the mourning tent of Jihad Nawahda, who was killed by the Israeli army in al-Yamoun town, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

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