The Israeli army reported Wednesday afternoon that it had completed its operation at the Beitunia headquarters of West Bank Preventative Security Chief Jibril Rajoub, west of Ramallah. The Israeli troops entered the complex, searched the premises, and found 200 weapons, including 180 rifles and a range of explosives. No other activists wanted by Israel were found inside the building.
200 Palestinians who had been holed up in Rajoub's headquarters, among them women and children and wanted individuals from Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, surrendered to Israeli troops Tuesday.
Among the wanted activists who surrendered was Salim Hijba, 30, from the West Bank city of Nablus, who ran Hamas explosives laboratories and was involved in the suicide bombings at the Dolphinarium in Tel Aviv last June, Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem last August, and the bus bombing in Haifa in December, reported Haaretz.
Sharif Naji, a Fatah activist from the West Bank city of Ramallah also surrendered. He played a key role in a shooting attacks at Neve Ya'akov and the Sea Food Market in Tel Aviv, as well as in sending the suicide bomber to the Maccabim Junction.
Haitham Hamdan, who was involved in the shooting attack on Road 443 in Jerusalem, also gave himself up, as did William Hatib, from Beit Rim, a Fatah activist who oversaw an armed cell that carried out shooting attacks, including one that killed an Israeli officer and four settlers on the Neve Tzuf road.
Also arrested were Bilal al-Barghouti and Imad Awad. Barghouti is a Hamas activist who dispached a suicide bomber to carry out an attack on January 9, in which a police officer who prevented the attack was killed; Awad apparently dealt in the production of Kassem rockets.
The Israeli army took up positions surrounding the Rajoub's headquarters Monday night, and heavy shooting took place throughout the day Tuesday.
Bethlehem
Scores of Palestinian gunmen were hiding inside one of Christianity's holiest shrines — Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity — on Wednesday, seeking refuge from Israeli troops, helicopters and tanks that invaded the city.
The bodies of four Palestinian gunmen, shot dead in a firefight on Tuesday, remained sprawled on a sidestreet near the church on Wednesday morning, with rescue services unable to reach them or other casualties because of constant shooting.
A tank was stationed at the edge of Manger Square, adjacent to the church, the army said. Bethlehem Mayor Hana Nasser said soldiers had occupied the municipal building overlooking the square and the church.
Jenin, Salfeet
Meanwhile, Israeli forces pushed into other West Bank centers before dawn Wednesday, entering the northern towns of Salfeet and Jenin and the Jelazoun refugee camp near Ramallah.
The mayor of Salfeet, Sahat Astia, told the Israeli Ha'aretz newspaper that electricity supplies to the town had been cut off, and that two residents were killed during the Israeli raid.
In Jenin, a 30-year-old female doctor was killed when Palestinians and soldiers exchanged fire, while three Palestinian gunmen were killed during an exchange of fire in the Jenin refugee camp. According to Palestinian sources, one Israeli soldier was killed in the camp and three others injured, one of them sustained light-to-moderate injuries.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, still confined in his Ramallah offices in an interview Tuesday night with the Arab satellite TV station Al Jazeera criticized Israel's Bethlehem incursion: "Today they attacked Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Can you imagine? They are striking the church of the Virgin Mary."
By Wednesday morning, more than 800 Palestinians — men ranging from their mid-teens to their mid-40s — had been rounded up in Ramallah, according to the Israeli army and Palestinian security sources. The Palestinians have denounced the mass roundups as collective punishment, but Israel has defended them as a legitimate means of hunting down wanted men. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
