Israeli soldiers arrested a leading member of Hamas at his hideout Saturday in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Hasan Yousef was led into an Israeli military vehicle after being taken from a house he had used as a hideout in the city center. The capture was filmed by Associated Press Television News.
Yousef is the leader of Hamas' political wing in the West Bank and has long been wanted by Israel.
Elsewhere, the Israeli army lifted the curfew in most West Bank towns on Saturday due to the opening of the Palestinian school year, Army Radio reported. In Jenin and Hebron the curfew will not be lifted and schools will remain closed in these cities, the report said.
The Palestinian Authority said that a million pupils are expected to return to school Saturday. The curfew will be re-imposed in the evening.
Also Saturday, the Israelis detected an infiltration into Israel from the Gaza Strip, and were conducting searches between kibbutz Nir Am and the town of Sderot in the Negev, Israel Radio reported. The five - three adults and two children - are believed to be Palestinians who look for work in Israel.
The Israeli army discovered three explosive devices near the Salem junction, between Megiddo and Jenin early Saturday morning, Israel Radio added. One of the bombs was a dummy, another exploded near an Israeli encampment and a third was detonated by Israeli troops.
Israeli soldiers were conducting searches in the area, and a curfew has been imposed on the village of Zbubeh, the radio said.
The Israeli army arrested four Palestinian men in the West Bank.
On Friday, Israeli troops and Palestinians exchanged fire during the day and into the evening in Jenin refugee camp, and three Israeli soldiers were wounded, the army said.
A 16-year-old Palestinian youth and two boys of 12 and six were lightly injured when Israeli tanks fired machine guns into Jenin's refugee quarter, medics there said. Soldiers said they responded to shots fired at them, Reuters reported.
Palestinian witnesses said later Israeli troops surrounded the house of a Hamas member in the camp.
Meanwhile, Palestinians shot a teenage girl in the head, killing her for "collaborating" with Israel, Palestinian sources said on Friday. Israel Radio reported that they subsequently released her brother, who was also abducted a few days ago from the West Bank city of Tulkarem on suspicion of aiding Israel.
They said 18-year old Rajah Ibrahim was the second female in a week to be killed by members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. The sources said she had provided information to Israeli security services that allowed troops to track down and kill the group's Tulkarem area commander, Raed Karmi, in January.
Yahya
The Palestinian interior minister said in an interview published on Friday activists must halt suicide bombings against Israelis or face "isolation" by Palestinian society.
"Stop the suicide bombings, stop the murders for no reason," Abdel Razzak al-Yahya said in remarks to an Israeli newspaper.
In an interview with the newspaper Yedioth Ahronot, Yahya said: "Suicide attacks are contrary to the Palestinian tradition, are against international law and harm the Palestinian people. "It is not necessary to respond or take revenge for every act. Both sides must act with restraint."
Yahya acknowledged his failure to secure deal for an end to attacks in meetings this month in Gaza, but added: "If the suicide attacks continue, these factions will find themselves isolated in Palestinian society."
Senior Hamas official Abdel-Aziz Rantissi dismissed Yahya's comments. "He should have called on the Zionists to end their occupation and massacres. That is enough reason for pursuing the resistance and the martyrdom operations," Rantissi said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
