Israeli armored forces, including tanks and heavy equipment of the engineering corps, moved into Jenin shortly after 2 in the morning, after surrounding the town. The force converged on Jenin's main square from several directions and encircled the governor's office. Haider Irshad, the vice governor of Jenin, told Reuters that 10 tanks opened fire on Palestinian police headquarters. Bulldozers were reportedly called in to finish destroying the building.

Loudspeakers on city mosques began blaring cries of

"Sharon opened the gates of Hell with this action." - Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat

"Allah Akhbar!" and called on city residents to leave their houses and fight off the Israeli invaders. Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the Israeli forces. According to Palestinian sources, no Israeli ground troops were seen in the city.

"During the operation, Israeli forces along with engineering equipment and bulldozers, protected by armored tanks, entered a Palestinian-ruled area to destroy the building,'' the IDF said in a statement. "The soldiers refrained from returning fire in consideration for the Palestinian population in the area."

According to ynet, IDF troops did fire light weapons at Palestinian gunmen. IAF helicopters were reported flying over the city, but did not participate in the attack.

Unconfirmed reports circulated in Jenin during the attack stating that Palestinian suicide bombers were ready to throw themselves at the Israeli tanks. According to Israel Radio, Palestinian sources initially reported as many as ten deaths in the Israeli action, later reduced the number to two killed, and finally retracted that statement and reported only 10 people injured, most of them lightly. There were no reports of Israeli casualties.

Palestinians celebrate IDF withdrawal
Following the IDF withdrawal this morning, hundreds of Jenin residents reportedly celebrated in the city square by singing and firing bullets into the air. Jenin Fatah leader Naif Sueth told ynet, "We defeated the Israelis and taught them a lesson." According to Sueth, Palestinian security forces and armed members of Palestinian militia had successfully prevented Israel from realizing its plan to invade the nearby Kabatiya refugee camp, from which most of the recent suicide bombers had left on their missions.

Israeli officials dismissed reports of a Palestinian victory, and said that the action in Jenin was a general warning to prevent terrorist attacks against Israeli population centers. "This is a signal to the Palestinian Authority which is doing nothing to stop those carrying out attacks," said Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh (Labor). "And the PA is paying a price for this." Sneh made it clear that Israel had "no intention of re-conquering Area A."

"This is a declaration of war," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told Reuters. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters that the Palestinian Authority would "call for an emergency session of the Security Council" in a demand for international protection. Erekat attacked Prime Minister Aril Sharon for "opening the gates of Hell with this action."

Jenin considered "hothouse of suicide bombers"
In the hours preceding the incursion, the IDF massed forces around Jenin, considered by security officials to be a "hothouse of suicide bombers." The IDF had previously massed infantry troops and armored forces outside Bethlehem and Jenin in July in response to the firing of two mortar shells on Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood, but no major military action was taken at that time.

The Islamic Jihad organization based in Jenin is held responsible for several recent terrorist attacks. Security sources said that Mahmoud Ahmed Muhammad Tualbeh is commander of the Islamic Jihad terror cell. Tualbeh, whose name was included on a short list of "wanted" terrorists published by the IDF ten days ago, is suspected of being behind the May 25 suicide bombing in Hadera, which wounded 45 people, and last month's Binyamina bombing, which killed two and wounded eight.

IDF Radio reported that the suicide bomber in Sunday's attack on a restaurant in Kiryat Motzkin, Muhammed Nasser, worked in the Jenin police station as recently as six weeks ago.

This morning the IDF incursion into Jenin came under attack from members of Israel's Left. Former Justice Minister Yossi Beilin (Labor) called on Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres to immediately leave the government. "The strike in Jenin is not only a strike against the local government there, but also against Shimon Peres," Beilin said. The Jenin action came less than a day after Peres received Sharon's approval to begin negotiating a cease-fire with the Palestinians.

Opposition leader Yossi Sarid (Meretz) said the Jenin incursion "joined a long string of meaningless actions intended for internal purposes only." Sarid added, "As long as the government continues to initiate acts of force without meaningful diplomatic efforts, it continues to take giant steps that only speed up the cycle of violence."

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