JERUSALEM Ñ Israel's military has launched a search operation for
Hamas insurgents in the West Bank.
Israeli military sources said the focus of the operation was the
southern West Bank city of Hebron. The sources said a combined task force of
regular and special troops operated in Hebron on Tuesday and arrested scores
of Hamas insurgents and supporters.
So far, the sources said, more than 130 Hamas members and supporters
were arrested. They said they operation was meant to eliminate the Hamas
infrastructure in the city in wake of the killing of Hamas's commander in
the West Bank, Abdullah Qawasmeh.
Qawasmeh led a Hamas cell that was said to have killed more than 50
Israelis in a series of suicide bombings in such cities in Haifa and
Jerusalem. He was killed in an Israeli operation in Hebron over the weekend.