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Israeli soldiers arrested the Palestinian deputy prime minister Saturday, the highest-ranking Hamas official rounded up in a seven-week-old crackdown against the ruling party.

Troops burst into the home of Nasser Shaer around 4:30 a.m. and took him away, said the deputy prime minister's wife, Huda.

She said her husband had been in hiding since the crackdown began in late June after Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip infiltrated southern Israel and captured a soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit. She said he had rarely been home during that period.

The army said Shaer was arrested in Ramallah overnight for his involvement and activity in the Islamic militant Hamas.

With Shaer, Israel has now arrested four members of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Cabinet and 28 Hamas lawmakers. Four other ministers have been detained and released

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