B’Tselem has issued a condemnation this month of Israel’s detention of Hamas officials holding senior positions in the Palestinian Authority. According to B’Tselem, "international law permits administrative detention only in exceptional cases, when the detainee represents a clear and present danger, and then only if lesser means are ineffective in eliminating the danger. The use of administrative detention as a means of punishment is absolutely forbidden. The present case does not meet these conditions…the timing of the waves of arrests indicates that the arrests were intended to put pressure on the Palestinian people and its leadership."