Israeli security forces remained Monday on high alert for possible further bombing attempts.
Early Monday, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself near the Ta'anachim junction in northern Israel after Israeli troops approached him, an Israeli police official said. There were no physical injuries among Israelis in the area, but a number were treated for emotional shock.
The incident came a day after a suicide bomber killed three people and wounded at least 56 in Natanya's open-air market.
"Initial reports indicate that a Border Police rural patrol was checking a suspicious individual, called on him to halt, and it turned out that he was a terrorist with a bomb on him, and the bomb exploded. We have no reports of other injuries," regional police commander Dov Lutsky told Israel Radio.
Meanwhile, hours after the Natanya attack, Palestinians said several Israeli armored vehicles rolled into part of the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's office is headquartered.
An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that an Israeli force entered the city, saying shots had been fired at an Israeli motorist traveling to a nearby West Bank settlement. The driver was unhurt, she added.
The troops withdrew a short time later, without any contact with Palestinians, the spokeswoman said.
Three Palestinians were arrested last night during Israeli operations in the West Bank. The three were detained during raids carried out in villages outside of Hebron and north of Jerusalem.
The Israeli army also conducted searches in the city of Tulkarem, which is situated around 12 kilometers from Natanya. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
