Israel Arrests 350 Arab Activists in Broad Crackdown : Uprising: Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians return to work after three weeks under curfew.

Israeli military officials announced Sunday that they have arrested 350 Palestinian activists in a broad crackdown on Hamas, the Islamic movement known as a driving force behind the resistance to Israeli rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Those arrested included a Palestinian suspected of fatally stabbing three Jews in December.

The arrests were announced as several thousand Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza began the gradual, tense process of returning to work in Israel proper after more than three weeks under rigid curfew.

Aside from scattered incidents, largely in areas still under curfew, the day passed quietly. Authorities said that more of the estimated 100,000 Palestinians who work in Israel would be allowed back, although they still will not be permitted to work in the Tel Aviv and Haifa areas or to spend the night in Israel.

Military officials said the army and Shin Bet security police had uncovered several Hamas command centers throughout the West Bank and Gaza, and in the course of the operations had seized archives and arms and turned up ties with activists in Jordan, Britain and the United States.

“This has frustrated part of the operations of one of the largest terrorist organizations” in the Israeli-occupied territories, the announcement said, “and, in effect, has prevented many casualties.”

Hamas, or Zeal, has been one of the main forces behind the three-year Palestinian uprising against Israel’s rule over the occupied zones. Hamas’ influence has been rivaled only by that of a group backed by the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Israeli officials accused Hamas of fomenting attacks on Jews, interrogating and killing Arabs suspected of collaborating with Israel, damaging an electrical system, causing “disturbances” and planning attacks.

In its latest move, Hamas issued a leaflet Sunday praising Iraqi missile attacks against Israel for making Jews suffer as it contended Palestinians have suffered under Israel’s rule in the territories it has occupied since 1967, Israel Radio reported.

Israeli officials said their moves against Hamas in Gaza, where it is particularly strong, included the capture of a “security arm” that hunted suspected collaborators and a “publicity arm” that put out leaflets urging attacks on Jews. They said that Ashraf Baloji, the Gazan accused of stabbing three Israelis in a Jaffa metals factory Dec. 14, was responding to one such leaflet.

For all Hamas’ reported popularity in Gaza, Palestinians passing through the border checkpoint between Gaza and southern Israel on Sunday appeared far from radical Islamic politics. They were workers on their way home from their first day on the job after a long break, and some said they had been welcomed back warmly by their Israeli bosses.

“They took us in happily,” Ramadan Dada, an orange picker from Gaza, said of his employers in Ashkelon, adding that he was happy to get back to work after 22 unwanted days off. “With God’s help, everything will be quiet now.”

As he waited for Israeli soldiers at the Erez Junction checkpoint to inspect his documents, Nazar Mohanna observed of his return: “It’s better than sitting at home.”

He and a dozen other workers were ferried to work and back in buses by the Israeli factory that employs him, as new security regulations demand. Employers are also held responsible for workers’ behavior while in Israel. Military authorities have threatened repeatedly that if Palestinian workers turn violent, the border could be closed again and curfews renewed.

It was easy to see why, even with their added responsibilities, employers were glad to have Palestinian workers back. Citrus trees lining the road from Tel Aviv to Ashkelon were laden with unpicked fruit, and construction has been at a standstill for a month.

But there were also reports of Palestinians who got back to jobs only to find that they had been filled by new Soviet immigrants or Israelis. The Palestinians were then told that they were ineligible for unemployment compensation because they were to blame for their absence during the curfew.

And far fewer Palestinians than expected crossed into Israel to work--only 2,000 of the 6,000 who had permission--apparently because of problems getting new documents needed to cross the border.

Citing fears of violence, Israel, when the war began, imposed a rigid curfew on the occupied territories. Palestinian support for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein still shows no sign of waning. But the extended curfew and loss of backing from the Israeli left has proven a heavy price for the Palestinians to pay for their support of the Iraqis.