Israel detains 11 Hamas lawmakers in West Bank

Ramallah/Gaza, July 14 (IANS) Israeli army arrested eleven Islamic Hamas movement's lawmakers in the West Bank Monday, security officials said.

The detained lawmakers, also members of the Palestinian parliament, were handcuffed after Israeli troops stormed the West Bank's cities and towns of Tulkarem, Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin, Xinhua reported citing officials as saying.

The arrests came as Israel's "Operation Protective Edge" targeting the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip continues to unfold, in which 174 Palestinians were killed, while more than 1,200 wounded.

Hamas movement warned Israel of arresting its lawmakers in the West Bank, saying that the Jewish state had already arrested at least 30 Hamas lawmakers, including parliament speaker Aziz Sweik, since June 12.

In June, Israel launched a campaign aimed at crushing Hamas after it blamed the group for kidnapping and killing three Israeli teenagers.

Meanwhile, UN Relief and Work Agency Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl slammed the expansion of the Israeli offensive on Gaza and said that this would cause negative consequences on civilians.

It is necessary to bring calm back in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible to avoid more victims, the UN official said in northern Gaza.

"We are concerned that the situation in the Gaza Strip will reach an unbearable stage more and more," Krahenbuhl said.