The Palestinian security forces continued in the last 24 hours the crackdown against the Islamic Hamas movement in the West Bank, Hamas said on Sunday.

In Nablus, the security members arrested 4 Hamas supporters, including a woman. They also broke into a home that belongs to a former prisoner for the tenth time, trying to find him, a Hamas statement said.

The statement continued that in Tulkarem town, the security forces, loyal to president Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, arrested 9 of Hamas members, 4 of them were recently released from the Israeli jails and another one is critically sick and needs to stay in hospital for several days.

They also invaded many shops looking for a Hamas militant. 16 other Hamas supporters were also arrested in different parts of the West Bank, including the city of Ramallah, Hebron, Jenin and Qalqilya, according to the statement.

Hamas and Fatah have been exchanging crackdown against their political opponents since Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

The arrests continued though the two movements are holding unity and reconciliation talks in Cairo.