A Palestinian security official accused the Israeli army of "kidnapping" four Palestinians in a military operation Monday in the Gaza Strip, said press reports.
Haaretz newspaper quoted a Palestinian official as telling Palestine Radio that an Israeli army jeep and armored vehicle seized a Palestinian mini-bus traveling between Gaza City and Khan Yunis and drove the four passengers to the Jewish settlement of Netzarim.
The identity of the passengers and why they were detained was not immediately clear, said AFP.
The Israeli army said it was checking the reported incident, Haaretz added.
The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported in its internet edition Monday noon that an Israeli woman was lightly injured in clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers in the Jordan Valley.
Meanwhile, the military wing of Islamic Resistance Hamas movement, Ezzinddine Qassam Brigades,' claimed Monday its responsibility for exploding an Israeli tank in the Gaza Strip.
The statement, faxed to Albawaba.com in Damascus, added that the "operation was video-taped."
The movement, in another statement, also claimed responsibility for "several bomb explosions on the Netzarim-Karni road", as well as exploding two tanks on the same road.
But The Jerusalem Post said that Israeli soldiers defused two roadside bombs that were planted on the Karni-Netzarim road shortly before a convoy of Israeli vehicles was to travel along the route.
The paper said that there were neither human nor material losses in the incident -- Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
