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The PLO accuses Israeli Prime Minister Sharon of obstructing the peace process

Blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian men, backdropped by a red Star of David sign on an Israeli army ambulance, walk in line as they are taken to be interrogated in a nearby building at an army base on the outskirts of Hebron on Tuesday. PHOTO: AP

The Israeli army rounded up about 130 alleged Hamas activists in raids on Hebron and Nablus on Tuesday, prompting a further accusation that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is trying to scupper the group's promise of an imminent ceasefire.

And as negotiators once again declared that a truce was imminent, it was revealed that the Palestinian leadership has asked the EU to freeze Hamas's assets and block fund transfers to add to the pressure on it to end the suicide bombings and other killings.

The Israeli government formally charged five leading members of a militant political organization, the Islamic Movement, with funnelling millions of dollars of foreign money to Hamas from Iran. It was denounced by Israeli Arabs as an attack on their political rights.

Yesterday's raid on Hebron came two days after the Israeli army shot dead Abdullah Qawasmeh, the town's Hamas leader.

Among those detained were members of his family and relatives of Hamas suicide bombers, who were taken to an Israeli military base for interrogation. They were held blindfolded and handcuffed in tents until taken to a building for questioning.

The army said the raids and Nablus were aimed at "terrorists and their helpers." Palestinian leaders condemned the roundup as contrary to the spirit of the faltering road map to peace.

The Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Palestine President Yasser Arafat, issued a statement saying Israel's "ongoing policy of assassinations and arrests ... confirms the plans of Sharon's government to obstruct the implementation of the road map."

Despite the raids and killing, Palestinian leaders once again claimed that Hamas would agree to a ceasefire.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said a breakthrough at the mediation talks with Hamas in Cairo seemed imminent..

"There is a feeling of optimism that something like this [truce] will be announced in the next few days," Maher said. "It is impossible that calm can be achieved unilaterally while the other side continues its provocative policies that increase difficulties."

It emerged yesterday that the Palestinian Authority had asked the EU to press Hamas into a ceasefire by freezing its assets and blocking money transfers to it. But the Palestinians stopped short of asking for Hamas to be declared a proscribed organization.
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