Israel Arrests 91 Suspected Militants in West Bank Raids

Israel continues to place pressure on Palestinian militant groups after last weekend's rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. Monday night, Israeli troops arrested 91 people who were described as 'wanted Islamic Jihad and Hamas terrorists' by an IDF spokesman. The raids took place in the West Bank in and around the towns of Ramallah, Jenin, Bethlehem, Hebron and Nablus.

A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces told CNN that the raids were a 'continuation of activities against the terrorist infrastructure, following attacks on Israeli citizens from Gaza.'

A total of 388 members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been arrested since Saturday when more than 30 homemade rockets were fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces also launched an air strike in northern Gaza Tuesday against three access routes which are being used by militant groups to launch missiles and rockets at targets inside Israel. According to a statement from the Palestinian Authority, nobody was injured in the strikes.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz explained Israel's response to this weekend's attacks. 'Hamas fired at Israeli sovereign territory after the disengagement, they killed innocent Palestinians at a rally and blamed Israel for it and to strengthen their lie they fired Qassam rockets on Sderot,' Mofaz charged. 'We will not let it pass quietly.'

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, claimed that his group would stop launching rockets and missiles from the Gaza Strip. Mr. Mofaz said the declaration was not sufficient, especially in lieu of past violations by Hamas and Islamic Jihad of similar ceasefires in the past.

'I am not satisfied with Mahmoud al-Zahar's declaration,' Mofaz told Israeli Army Radio. 'Hamas did unforgivable acts and we need to dictate new rules of the game.'