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Blanchard

Israeli tank force enters W. Bank city

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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