Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations    

    RAMALLAH, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian security forces arrested 12 members of Hamas in West Bank in an ongoing crackdown against the Islamic movement, Hamas said on Sunday.

    The arrests, by the forces loyal to president Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, took place in the cities of Nablus, Salfeet and Hebron, a statement by Hamas said.

    The arrests fuel tension between Hamas and Fatah and complicate any effort to reconcile the two movements.

    Hamas thwarted an Egyptian initiative to hold an inter-Palestinian reconciliation dialogue after it said it can't sit with Fatah while its supporters and members in West Bank face a Fatah-led clampdown.

    The two sides have been trading politically-motivated abductions against their dissidents since Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and seized Gaza Strip in June 2007.

    Hamas says it released Fatah prisoners in Gaza Strip to pave the way for the dialogue but accuses Fatah of intensifying the crackdown against the Islamists in West Bank.

    Egypt called off the dialogue which was scheduled for Nov. 10 and now new date has not been set, yet.