Israel Troops Raid Palestinian Newspaper Offices

Israeli soldiers raided the offices of a Palestinian newspaper in the West Bank city of Ramallah Wednesday, ordering them to stop printing publications by the Islamist movement Hamas, managers said.

"Officers informed us that Israel would not allow the printing and distribution of Falastin, Al-Resala, and Al-Istiqlal," three Hamas newspapers, the Al-Ayyam's managers said in a statement.

Al-Ayyam has been printing the papers since early this month, after a surprise reconciliation deal between Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and their rivals Fatah brought the Islamist group's publications back to West Bank newsstands.

The soldiers threatened to take "concrete steps" towards stopping Falastin, Al-Resala and Al-Istiqlal being printed at Al-Ayyam offices, the statement said.

The army had no immediate comment.

On April 23, Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization revealed a reconciliation deal under which they would work together to form a new government of political independents.

That was seized upon by Israel, which said it would not negotiate with any Palestinian government backed by Hamas, putting the final nail in the coffin of the latest round of U.S.-brokered peace talks.

Earlier this month, Al-Ayam and two other dailies published in the West Bank -- Al-Quds and Al-Hayyat Al-Jadida -- became available again in Gaza for the first time since Hamas seized the territory in a week of bloody fighting in 2007.