Israeli tank force enters W. Bank city
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Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Tuesday, August 14, 2001
RAMALLAH Ñ An Israeli armored force entered a West Bank city and
destroyed a Palestinian Authority police post in retaliation for several
suicide bombings in Israeli cities.
Palestinian and Israeli military sources said the Israeli force entered
the city of Jenin on early Tuesday. The force, composed of 20 tanks and
armored personnel carriers, destroyed a PA security installation in the city
and by dawn Tuesday returned to its position.
It was the first Israeli military operation in the heart of a
Palestinian city in the West Bank. The Israeli force also raided the
headquarters of the PA governor in Jenin.
Sources said the force came under light Palestinian fire. Israeli
military sources said the force did not return fire to prevent casualties in
the
city.
But Palestinian sources said the Israeli tank force returned fire and
two PA police officers were injured. They said a police building next to the
compound of the PA governor's headquarters was destroyed.
The Israeli ground operation was backed by attack helicopters, which
flew over the city. The sources said the helicopters did not fire missiles
toward Jenin.
Israeli military sources said there was surprisingly little resistance
to the incursion.
PA Information Minister Yasser Abbed Rabbo said the Israeli operation
was a declaration of war on the Palestinians. Hours after the Israeli
attack, Palestinian gunners fired toward the southern Jerusalem neighborhood
of Gilo. The gunfire continued for six hours and Israeli troops returned
fire. One Israeli was injured.
Earlier, Israel's military amassed troops and tanks near Jenin. The
Palestinian Authority declared an alert and commanders said they expected an
imminent attack.
"Jenin has become a city of bombers, " Israeli Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen.
Shaul Mofaz said. "We know that there is cooperation between Hamas, Islamic
Jihad, Tanzim and the Palestinian Security Agency."
Jenin is said to have been the center for planning of Palestinian
bombing attacks against Israel. Over the last week, Palestinian suicide
bombers detonated explosives in Jerusalem and the Haifa suburb of Kiryat
Motzkin. Fourteen Israelis were killed in the Jerusalem bombing.
On Thursday morning, a Palestinian was killed in Nablus. Palestinian
sources said Fatah member Shadi Al Asfouri was killed when he was assembling
a bomb on a rooftop in the West Bank city.
In Ramallah, Palestinian sources said overnight Thursday Israeli troops
fired a missile at the car of a Force 17 security official. They said
Muhammad Hamis Ibri was seriously injured in the assassination attempt.
Israeli military sources did not confirm the attack.
Later, an Israeli woman and a toddler were injured when their car was
fired at the Takumia crossroads near Hebron.
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