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Israel raids more West Bank towns
The Israeli army on Sunday pursued its raids of Palestinian towns in a bid to stem the flow of suicide bombers and break the networks that send them, as the Palestinians plotted a new course for their shambling security services.
The Israeli army on Sunday pursued its raids of Palestinian towns in a bid to stem the flow of suicide bombers and break the networks that send them, as the Palestinians plotted a new course for their shambling security services.
US President George W Bush acknowledged the plans for reforms but had harsh words for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whom he accused of failing to capitalise on peace efforts under his predecessor Bill Clinton.
Israel signalled its intention to press on with frequent lightning raids, instead of the lumbering re-occupation of cities last month, with troops sweeping in and out of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank and also moving into nearby Qalqilya.
Officials said the forces, who shot dead a 55-year-old Palestinian man in his Tulkarem home overnight, were on the hunt for militants.
Palestinians reported that around 100 people were rounded up in Tulkarem, which was stormed again early Sunday after a 24-hour raid the day before.
Qalqilya was also targeted early on Sunday, when a dozen Israeli tanks, jeeps, and armoured vehicles backed up by an assault helicopter, moved into the town, witnesses said.
"Over the past two weeks there has been a new wave of terrorism in the heart of our cities and we decided to strike the terrorists' nests, particularly in Qalqilya, Nablus and Jenin," Israel's Deputy Defence Minister Dalia Rabin-Pelossof said Sunday.
But Israeli soldiers pulled out of Bethlehem after a brief incursion which led to one arrest and the trashing of the home an Islamic Jihad leader.
The army also poured Saturday into Doha, a village near Bethlehem, the home town of the 16-year-old suicide bomber who blew himself up in Rishon Letsion near Tel Aviv on Wednesday, witnesses said.
The weekend violence claimed the lives of four people, including a 45-year-old woman and her 12-year-old niece, in addition to an Israeli soldier killed in a raid on Tulkarem.
Tulkarem and Qalqilya, situated on the Green Line between Israel and the West Bank, are the main crossing points for would-be attackers, dozens of whom the army has intercepted since it ended its major West Bank offensive.
Bureau Report
Israel signalled its intention to press on with frequent lightning raids, instead of the lumbering re-occupation of cities last month, with troops sweeping in and out of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank and also moving into nearby Qalqilya.
Officials said the forces, who shot dead a 55-year-old Palestinian man in his Tulkarem home overnight, were on the hunt for militants.
Palestinians reported that around 100 people were rounded up in Tulkarem, which was stormed again early Sunday after a 24-hour raid the day before.
Qalqilya was also targeted early on Sunday, when a dozen Israeli tanks, jeeps, and armoured vehicles backed up by an assault helicopter, moved into the town, witnesses said.
"Over the past two weeks there has been a new wave of terrorism in the heart of our cities and we decided to strike the terrorists' nests, particularly in Qalqilya, Nablus and Jenin," Israel's Deputy Defence Minister Dalia Rabin-Pelossof said Sunday.
But Israeli soldiers pulled out of Bethlehem after a brief incursion which led to one arrest and the trashing of the home an Islamic Jihad leader.
The army also poured Saturday into Doha, a village near Bethlehem, the home town of the 16-year-old suicide bomber who blew himself up in Rishon Letsion near Tel Aviv on Wednesday, witnesses said.
The weekend violence claimed the lives of four people, including a 45-year-old woman and her 12-year-old niece, in addition to an Israeli soldier killed in a raid on Tulkarem.
Tulkarem and Qalqilya, situated on the Green Line between Israel and the West Bank, are the main crossing points for would-be attackers, dozens of whom the army has intercepted since it ended its major West Bank offensive.
Bureau Report