JERUSALEM Ñ Israel said it foiled 30 major insurgency attacks in
less than a week.
Israeli security officials said the attacks were foiled from Oct. 15 to
Oct. 21. They said about 50 Palestinians were arrested on suspicion of
participating in
the attacks. They were members of 16 insurgency cells.
In all, officials said, Israeli security agencies received alerts of 40
plots to attack civilian targets in Israel over the last two weeks. They
said seven major attacks were foiled.
Of the seven, they said, Israeli authorities stopped five Palestinian
suicide bombers on their way to their targets. Two of the bombers were
killed.
Israeli tanks and infantry blew up homes of suspected Palestinian
insurgents in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah and the West Bank city of Nablus.
Israeli military sources said seven Palestinian insurgents were captured,
three of them in the Ramallah area.
The sources said Israeli authorities continue to receive alerts of plans
to attack civilian targets. On Monday, 14 Israelis were killed during a
bombing attack on a passenger bus in northern Israel.
In Ramallah, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has formally
replaced his security chief, Interior Minister Abdul Razik Yehya. Arafat's
nominee for interior minister is his aide, Hani Al Hassan.
Palestinian legislators are expected to vote next week on Arafat's new
Cabinet. Several legislators from Arafat's ruling Fatah movement have called
for the resignation of three Cabinet ministers accused of corruption.