Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said on Sunday he had given the army blanket permission to enter Palestinian-controlled areas whenever it feels such a move is necessary.
"In principle, I have approved any entry to Area A, if that's necessary to guarantee our security," Ben-Eliezer told reporters in English, quoted by Reuters.He made the remark while acknowledging, in response to a question, that he had not given specific approval for a raid earlier in the day into the Palestinian-ruled town of Beit Jala and the village of al-Khader near Bethlehem in the West Bank.Ben-Eliezer said he had not expected that an Israeli military commander, in the heat of battle, would contact him personally for permission to enter Palestinian-controlled territory to put an end to shooting from the area.
A Palestinian man, aged 36, was killed by the Israeli troops and at least 12 Palestinians were wounded, two seriously, in the heavy fighting.
Israeli army paratroop forces were engaged in a fire-fight with armed Palestinians at the Talitakumi ridge next to the village, Army Radio said, cited by the paper.
The paper added that four houses in the vicinity sustained damage in the clash.
The area of the fighting is adjacent to the Bethlehem bypass road.
Earlier, a heavy firefight, including tank shelling, took place earlier near the village of El Khader adjacent to the road, near the District Coordination Office in Bethlehem and at the Har GiloIsaeli military base, said the paper.
The noise of the shelling and gunfire reportedly echoed throughout southern Jerusalem.
Israeli military officials said it was unlikely the lull in the shooting would continue.
Palestinian sources said several Palestinian Authority personnel were wounded and several structures in neighboring Beit Jala were damaged in the clash.
PALESTINIAN HIZBOLLAH CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR PETAH TIKVA BOMB BLAST
A previously unknown group calling itself the Palestinian Hizbollah has claimed responsibility for Petah Tivka's bomb blast that injured five people lightly, said that paper.
"This is the third time the organization has claimed responsibility for anti-Israeli attacks in the past several weeks and the third time the city was struck by terror outrages as well," official told Israel Radio.
A small explosive device containing nails and metal fragments to increase lethality blew up in a trashcan adjacent to the number 50 bus stop near an open-air market.
A 70-year-old man sustained minor arm and leg wounds, and is being held for observation at Hasharon Hospital, said the radio.
The four others, including a female soldier, were treated for shock and later released.
"We heard the explosion. We put out two intensive care units, three ambulances. There were four people lightly wounded who were taken to hospital," Israeli ambassador worker, Sano Simovich said.
The area was cordoned off by Israeli security forces.
Central police commander Yehuda Bachar said there were no other details available about the blast.
About the same time, Israel Radio said four mortar bombs slammed into the town of Sderot and Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, not far from the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning.
There were no reports of injuries.
Israeli military said it was checking the report when contacted by the paper.
KNIFE-WIELDING ISRAELI ARAB WOMAN ARRESTED IN JERUSALEM
Israeli police arrested an Arab woman wielding a knife in Jerusalem's downtown Keren Hayesod Street on Saturday, said the Post.
The woman, a resident of the capitol's southern Beit Safafa neighborhood, was caught after running down the street screaming she wanted to stab Jews, media reports said.
Police say the woman may be mentally unbalanced and are considering sending the woman for psychiatric observation, Army Radio reported.
BEN-ELIEZER UPS SECURITY ON JERICHO BY-PASS
Meanwhile, Israel's Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer has ordered security beefed up on the by-pass road that runs around the West Bank city of Jericho, Israel Radio reported Sunday.
Nevertheless, Ben-Eliezer added that Israelis should be encouraged to continue travelling in the area.
The defense minister's comments followed the Israel's shelling of the Palestinian Authority's General Intelligence headquarters in Jericho, which Israeli sources said was aimed at the intelligence service's West Bank director, Tawfiq Tirawi.
Tirawi's offices were targeted because he has been "organizing terror activity throughout the West Bank," officials said.
In Bethlehem, a Palestinian Jihad movement activist was killed in an assassination operation carried out by Israeli special units in the village of Artas.
Nine other Palestinians were injured later in clashes with Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers in the village of Al Khader near Bethlehem in the West Bank, according to Al Jazeera satellite channel.
Earlier, Israeli troops assassinated a member of the Islamic Jihad movement in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
The victim was identified as Ahmed Asaad Khalil, said the TV channel.
It added that Khalil was killed when Israeli snipers fired 25 bullets at him as he was standing at the entrance to his house.
Khalil had been imprisoned in Israel for a number of years, said Haaretz newspaper, adding that the Israeli army said it was unaware of the incident.
POWELL VOWS US WILL REMAIN ENGAGED IN MIDDLE EAST
US Secretary of State Colin Powell vowed on Saturday the United States would keep working to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, telling Arab-Americans the stakes were too high for Washington to disengage, reported Reuters.
Powell sought to dispel a perception that President George W. Bush and his Cabinet were pursuing a more hands-off approach to the Middle East, saying: "We will be engaged. We will not rest because the stakes are too high."
Addressing more than 700 people at an Arab American Institute Foundation dinner, Powell said he remained in close contact with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on a nearly daily basis.
"One can become frustrated. One can say it's easy to walk away from this, to lose hope," he said. "But we cannot walk away. We must not walk away, and we will not lose hope."
"President Bush will not turn away, and neither will I," he added.
The secretary said the United States was sponsoring security talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, and was working with Egypt and Jordan on a plan to resume peace talks, the agency quoted him as saying.
"We are deeply engaged on a daily basis to try and lower the level of violence and restore hope and trust between the two sides," Powell told the group's annual Kahlil Gibran "Spirit of Humanity" awards dinner.
He said removing barriers to trade and improving access to jobs were vital steps toward resuming peace negotiations.
Powell did not directly address the final report of a commission led by former US Senator George Mitchell about violence in the region, underscoring only Washington's desire to help the two sides end the violence and resume peace talks.
The State Department on Friday emphasized the importance of continuing security cooperation talks between Israel and the Palestinians, despite Israeli accusations that the Palestinians break commitments they make at the meetings.
Powell said the Palestinian people had "suffered greatly" in the past months, and the violence also was exacting a heavy toll among Israelis, but it was in the interest of both sides to end the violence and return to negotiations.
"This is a conflict that benefits no one. It is a conflict that destroys families, that destroys children, that destroys the future for all the parties in the region," Powell said - Albawaba.com
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