IDF ARRESTS SENOIR HAMAS MEMBERS, AND BLOWS OUT A TERRORIST FUNDING FRONT

A much needed apprehension of criminals has been made, and a funding front for terrorism has been blasted too:

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) - Israeli troops in the West Bank arrested more than 30 senior Hamas members early Thursday, including a Cabinet minister, legislators and mayors - pressing forward with an offensive against the Islamic militant group.

The roundup came hours after Israeli planes struck what the military said were money changing offices and other businesses in Gaza used to channel funds to Hamas.

Israel has been attacking Hamas targets for more than a week in retaliation for repeated rocket attacks from Gaza on Israeli border towns.

The Israeli army said it arrested 33 Hamas leaders in its overnight sweep. The most prominent official taken in the roundup was Education Minister Nasser Shaer, considered a pragmatist in the movement.

Yeah, right, I'm sure. I'm sure he really believed in the sanctity of life, didn't he? Forget it. Typical AP whitewash.

They also blabber on about Fatah/Hamas working on a "truce" with Israel:

Israeli aircraft on Wednesday demolished two money exchange shops in Gaza City used to channel funds to Hamas militants, the military said. The army said the shops served as a conduit for millions of dollars sent from Iran, Syria and Lebanon. [...]

The airstrikes came as Abbas and Haniyeh were making a new push to restore a truce with Israel. [...]

Israel, however, sees no point in extending to the West Bank a truce its says has failed to prove itself in Gaza.

"Israel has always said that if a cease-fire is kept in Gaza we're willing to extend it to the West Bank," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "The trouble is that a cease fire in Gaza has never been kept ... It has been a sham. The idea of extending a failure is flawed one."

The problem is that with Olmert still in, could a failure still be extended?