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NABLUS, West Bank-Israel raided a Palestinian religious affairs office on Monday and ordered a school, a clinic and a mosque shut for three years in the occupied West Bank on suspicion they were linked to Hamas.An Israeli military official said the raid in the city of Nablus was aimed against "the so-called charitable organizations", Israel's term for groups it says have links with the Islamist group.Hassan Hilali, director of the Palestinian Religious Affairs Ministry's office in the city, said "we found broken doors and cabinets overturned" and documents appeared to have been taken.
Hilali said soldiers posted notices on the doors of the high school, mosque and clinic saying they would remain closed for three years because of their links with militant groups.Israel's Haaretz newspaper said the Israeli military was planning to step up a campaign against a Hamas-linked charitable network in the West Bank.Hamas regards these organizations as legitimate providers of services and says they have nothing to do with the group's fight against Israel.A statement issued by the Israeli government on Monday said Defence Minister Ehud Barak recently signed an order declaring 36 international charitable organizations, suspected by Israel of raising funds for Hamas, to be "banned associations".The statement said the move was a "significant step" against a global network of groups known as the "Union of Good" which Israel accuses of raising "very large sums" of money to help to fund Hamas's activities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
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