Fatah rounds up dozens of Hamas activists

West Bank arrest raid sparks threats of revenge

World Blog: Tel Aviv, Israel

Helping Israelis through the recession - and Rosh Hashanah

Palestinians evicted from homes

A day at the beach for Palestinian children

Most popular

• Most viewed

• Top rated

• Most e-mailed

It’s prime time for colorful meteor shower

Facebook’s ‘unfriend’ is Word of the Year

Obama’s bow in Japan sparks some criticism

New advice: Wait until 50 for mammograms

Tax credit is coming back to bite millions

Most viewed on msnbc.com

updated 4:18 p.m. ET July 31, 2008

NABLUS, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered the release of all Hamas activists detained in recent days by his security forces.

His office said the order came late Thursday from Tunis, Tunisia, where the Palestinian leader is holding talks.

Abbas' Fatah security forces arrested about 200 Hamas members over the last week. That was a response to a roundup of Fatah members in the Gaza Strip after an explosion there killed five Hamas militants.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

The release of the Hamas detainees is seen as part of efforts by Abbas to cool the bitter rivalry between Fatah and Hamas. Tension has been high since Hamas seized control of Gaza last year.

Meanwhile, Hamas said 44 more of its members were arrested in the Hamas stronghold of Nablus, including Mohammed Ghazal, one of its senior leaders. Fatah countered that only 13 were arrested and said that the roundup is of criminal nature rather than political.

It was unclear whether the order for release included those in the most recent sweep.

The crackdown came after a mysterious explosion that killed five Hamas members and a 6-year-old girl. Hamas blames Fatah for the blast. Fatah denied the charge

Hamas seized control of Gaza from Fatah security forces last year, leaving Fatah ruling only the West Bank. Each group has arrested its rivals by the hundreds since.