An Israeli soldier was killed and two others injured during overnight clashes with Palestinian gunmen in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus. Army operations in Balata marked the first time troops had entered the camp, considered a hotbed of terrorist activities. Ten Palestinians were reported killed in Balata and in additional gunfights in a refugee camp near Jenin.

Staff Sgt. Haim Bachar, 20, from Tel Aviv was shot and killed as Israeli infantry troops from the Golani and Paratrooper brigades, in coordination with armored units, entered the Balata camp in an operation to roundup suspected terrorists. Palestinians said that an IAF helicopter fired two missiles at targets in the camp at the start of the operation.

During the operation, Palestinians detonated a large number of explosives at the Israeli troops, causing minor damage to IDF tanks. Palestinian sources said five people, including three policemen, were killed in two separate clashes near Jenin, and at least two gunmen were killed and over 70 others wounded in the Balata camp. One other Palestinian was reportedly shot dead in the center of Nablus.

Clashes continued throughout the morning. Palestinian sources said IDF loudspeakers called on all non-combatants to leave the camp. Palestinians said that they fear the IDF plans a massive aerial assault on Balata to destroy the camp. There has been no official IDF response to the reports.

According to an official army statement, the two camps are hotbeds of terrorist activity, which have operated with impunity until now. The army added that the camps are "bases of terror infrastructure that have been responsible for the murder of dozens of Israelis." Troops reportedly made arrests and confiscated weapons in both camps.

Military sources said that IDF troops were preparing for an extended stay in the camps, ynet reported. One of the objectives of the operation was to cut the camps off from the rest of the West Bank and to engage the terrorists in gun battles instead of allowing them to launch terror attacks at Israeli targets.

But other sources said the army had no intention to remain in Palestinian-controlled Area A. "Our goal is to go in to carry out our operations, and to get out afterwards," one unnamed source told ynet.

At a joint security coordination meeting Tuesday night, Israeli and Palestinian security officials reportedly discussed an Israeli proposal suggesting that Israel would refrain from acting against terrorist infrastructure in areas where Palestinian security forces took action, and vice versa. Until last night there had been no Israeli retaliations for the terror attacks this week.

Female suicide bomber blows up, injuring three policemen
A female suicide bomber blew herself up Wednesday night at the Maccabim checkpoint on the Jerusalem-Modiin highway, wounding three policemen, one of them sustaining moderate injuries. Two terrorists who had accompanied the bomber were wounded by police gunfire after the explosion.

The attack occurred at about 10:30 p.m. when a car bearing yellow Israeli license plates drove up to the checkpoint, traveling in the direction of Tel Aviv. Police asked the three people in the car to provide identification, and the two men reportedly gave identity cards showing that they were residents of Lod. The woman in the car, finely attired and speaking only Arabic and English, had no papers, and claimed that the men were her brothers.

"In the front seat sat two men, and in the back there was a girl finely dressed and wearing makeup. We insisted that she show us her identity card," police officer Motti Tal told Yediot Aharonot. "The men said she got on in Ramallah. We realized that the car was suspicious and continued to press with questions. The girl didn't look trustworthy. We asked her to get out of the car, and she emerged with a bag that she had. She opened it and… exploded."

From the force of the blast, the woman bomber was killed instantly, and the policemen, standing less than a meter away, were injured. The protective gear worn by the officers prevented more serious injuries, Yediot Aharonot reported.

"There was a huge explosion," an eyewitness taxi driver told Israel Radio. "I saw them pull the two [other] terrorists out of the car and force them to the ground. Apparently there was an explosive belt on one of them. After five or 10 minutes, I heard gunshots - apparently they shot at the terrorists."

Media reports suggested that the two men managed to get out of their seats and hide under the car. Original reports indicated that the men were dead, as they lay motionless on the ground for a long time, but apparently one had been seriously wounded and the other sustained only minor injuries.

The suicide bomber was identified as Dareen Abu Aisheh, 21, a resident of the village of Beit Wazan, located west of Nablus. She was reportedly a student at the An Najah University in Nablus. Aisheh was the second woman to blow herself up since the start of the Intifada. In February, Wafa Idris, a 27-year-old Palestinian paramedic, blew herself up in downtown Jerusalem, killing one Israeli and injuring more than 170, though it is not clear if she intended to commit suicide. Last week the Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade announced the creation of a unit of female suicide bombers.

Earlier Wednesday, Gadi Rejwan, 34, was shot and killed by a Palestinian employee of his factory in the Atarot industrial area in north Jerusalem. The Palestinian, who had been working at the plant for three years, walked into Rejwan's office and shot him in the head at close range. Workers at the factory, which produces coffee and spices under the Rejwan and Bashkevitz labels, said there had been no dispute between Rejwan and his assailant. Police sources said the identity of the killer was known, and that he had apparently fled to the nearby Palestinian city of Ramallah. On Friday, Beit Shemesh resident Valerie Ahmir was killed by terrorist gunmen as he drove home from his job in the Atarot area.

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