Israeli sappers blew up the main broadcasting station of the Voice of Palestine in Ramallah in the West Bank early Saturday, destroying much of the building. However, Palestinians resumed broadcasting from transmitters scattered around the area. The Palestinian Authority called on the international community to impose sanctions on Israel for the act.

Saturday, for the second day in a row, there were clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian demonstrators in the area around PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's headquarters, around which Israeli tanks and troops are stationed, within 50 meters (yards) of Arafat's office. No one was seriously hurt in the demonstrations.

Friday night, Palestinians fired on the Jewish Jerusalem suburb of Gilo. Israeli troops returned fire. Palestinians also fired on the Israeli community of Psagot, near Ramallah. No injuries were reported in either incident.

Friday Israeli troops took up positions within Palestinian-controlled territory in close proximity to the offices of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat in response to Thursday night's terror attack in Hadera, in which six Israelis were killed and more than 35 injured. The IDF took over the Ramallah houses of two additional Palestinian leaders as part of its tight closure on the city.

IDF forces reportedly returned to positions they had occupied in a previous siege on Ramallah until a few weeks ago. Tanks were positioned in strategic locations in the south of the city. Paratroopers, tanks and engineering corps troops moved into the town of Beituniya, just west of Ramallah. Troops were reported in Ramallah's A-Tira neighborhood and nearby Tel Anatba as well.

Marwan Barghouti, Fatah faction leader and head of the Tanzim militia in the West Bank, told Al-Jazeera television that IDF troops had occupied his house in Ramallah. IDF troops had previously taken over Barghouti's home for a short time in mid-December.

Another Ramallah house occupied by IDF forces, according to Palestinian sources, was that of Tawfik Tirawi, head of Palestinian Intelligence in the West Bank. Tirawi was not in the house at the time, but other family members were reportedly forced to stay secluded in one room while soldiers searched the building. Palestinian sources said Tirawi told his security guards to leave the area and to avoid clashes with the Israeli troops.

Late Friday morning, Palestinians said that IDF troops were still stationed on the roof of the four-story building, but the IDF said its soldiers had pulled out of the house earlier, Israel Radio reported.

Earlier, IAF jets bombed Palestinian facilities in Tulkarm, a short distance from the site of the terror attack in Hadera. Witnesses said F-16 warplanes fired missiles at a security compound, killing a Palestinian policeman and injuring some 20 people, including many civilians. The IDF confirmed the air strike, but did not specify which aircraft had participated in the action.

Palestinian sources said that a jail was hit at the compound, but that prisoners incarcerated there had been released just prior to the attack. After the air strike, there was a power outage in the city and cellular phone service was interrupted, Ha'aretz reported.

Meanwhile, a high security alert was sounded in many parts of central Israel due to the fear of additional terror attacks. Large police forces were stationed at the entrances to Hadera and Afula and roadblocks were set up along the Green Line.

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Friday that there had been warnings of terror attacks even before the killing of Tanzim militant Raed al-Karmi in Tulkarm on Monday, and that it was necessary to reinforce closures on Palestinian cities to prevent terrorists from entering Israel. The Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades, which claimed responsibility for the Hadera terror attack, said it had been launched in revenge for Karmi's death.

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