The Israeli military brought charges on Tuesday against the speaker of the Palestinian parliament in what could prove to be a test case of how Israel deals with the Hamas-led government. A prosecutor charged Aziz Dweik, a Hamas political leader, with attempting to solicit funds from outside the country and membership of a banned group. He is one of more than 30 Hamas members, many of them elected, who could face similar charges. Palestinians in the West Bank are tried in military courts because the territory has been under military occupation since 1967 and Israeli civil law does not apply. The court was convened at Ofer Camp, a detention centre, in the West Bank. Dweik told reporters he did not recognise the court's jurisdiction. His lawyers called the charges baseless. "I am elected by the Palestinian people and I represent the head of the Palestinian legitimacy," said Dweik, who was brought into court with his legs shackled, escorted by Israeli soldiers.
The military prosecutor, speaking in Hebrew but with his comments translated into Arabic, told the court he believed the charges against Dweik were serious, and included consorting with Khaled Meshaal, a Hamas leader who lives in exile in Syria. "(Dweik) dealt with Meshaal and he asked him to pay huge amounts of money," the prosecutor said, in apparent reference to Hamas's need for funds to run the government as a result of international sanctions imposed after it came to power.