Two residents of Rahat, a Bedouin village in south Israel, and a Palestinian from the Gaza Strip were arrested on suspicion of planning to kill an Israeli police intelligence officer, the Israeli media reported Sunday.
The Shin Bet security service said the killing had been planned to take place last Wednesday. The suspects were recruited by a Tanzim activist and were offered money in exchange for carrying out the killing, the Israeli reports said.
Police said Sunday that during their interrogation, the three suspects confessed to their involvement in planning the murder of the police officer.
Raids
An Israeli soldier was lightly wounded Sunday evening when Palestinians fired at an Israeli post on the Karni-Netzarim road.
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip said Sunday that Israeli troops also entered PA-controlled areas near the Karni crossing in the north of the Strip. The israeli army confirmed entering the Gaza Strip, and said its activity in the area was due to warnings of "terror attacks."
Earlier, Israel's Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer told reporters that there would be increased military action in the territories as a result of the greater number of "terror" attacks in recent weeks.
As an indication to the Israeli intentions, troops moved into Qalqilyah early Sunday morning, making it the third West Bank town to be raided by the army in less than two days. The city was placed under curfew as Israeli soldiers carried out searches, in what the army said was an operation aimed at foiling planned attacks against Israeli targets.
Palestinians sources said Israeli troops arrested several Palestinians in Qalqilyah.
Israel's Deputy Defense Minister Dalia Rabin-Pelossof said the re-entry into the West Bank towns was the result of "the renewal of [terror] warnings." Rabin-Pelossof added the operations had no clear time-frame.
Meanwhile, only hours after Israeli forces withdrew Saturday evening from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, troops went back into its refugee camp and into the town, Palestinian witnesses said. A Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire early Sunday morning, they said.
In Bethlehem, the Israeli army blew up the home of the head of Islamic Jihad in the city, Mohammed Shehada, Palestinian witnesses said. Troops told residents to get off the streets because a "closed military zone" had been declared and a curfew was in force. Israeli tanks and troops pulled out of the city on Sunday morning.
The Palestinian leadership issued a statement Saturday calling for the international community to stop the Israeli incursions. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
