Large contingents of Israeli infantry troops and engineering units took control Thursday of the Palestinian city of Tulkarm and the nearby Tulkarm and Nur A-Shams refugee camps. Residents were confined to their homes and the city's electricity supply was severed as soldiers searched for suspected terrorists. Gunfire exchanges with armed Palestinians continued throughout the morning and at least five Palestinians were killed and dozens were injured in the operation.

Nahal Brigade commander Col. Yair Golan told Israel Radio that his forces planned to stay in Tulkarm for up to two days "to arrest wanted men and people responsible for terror attacks." He noted that Israeli forces were making all efforts to prevent harming innocent Palestinian civilians and to avoid damaging Palestinian property. Before the operation began, warnings were issued to the Palestinian Authority advising residents to remain in their homes.

In an official statement, the IDF Spokesman said, "The city of Tulkarm and the refugee camps in its vicinity are the base for many terrorist organizations, and many of the terrorist attacks against Israelis have emanated from there. The IDF activity was intended to attack the terrorist infrastructure and to prevent the terrorist attacks."

Military sources said that the IDF operations in the Tulkarm refugee camps were similar to the army's actions in the Balata and Jenin camps last week. Soldiers are moving from house to house, occasionally breaking through walls between the buildings to avoid exposing themselves to Palestinian snipers on the narrow streets, ynet reported.

Palestinian sources claimed that Israeli forces had not occupied all areas of the refugee camps, but confirmed that the IDF had taken control of the home of Nur A-Sham's camp leader, Faid Cana'an, ynet reported. Palestinians said one of the casualties in the camp was a 17-year-old boy.

Bombardment of Palestinian targets continues
IAF fighter jets and helicopters continued overnight and on Thursday to strike at Palestinian security targets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Palestinians reported three people killed in Gaza City.

Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at Palestinian intelligence headquarters in Halhoul, north of Hebron. Three Palestinians were reportedly lightly injured in the attack. Palestinian sources claimed that the building was evacuated due to the expected Israeli air strike. Nizam al-Jaabari, head of Palestinian military intelligence in Hebron, said the Israeli attack damaged the building, but did not destroy it.

Helicopters also fired missiles Thursday afternoon at a Palestinian Authority security compound in the village of Yatta, south of Hebron

Earlier Israeli jets attacked Palestinian police positions in Gaza. During the night, Israeli Navy ships fired at least two missiles and directed gunfire at Palestinian positions on the northern Gaza Strip coast. F-16 jets attacked the Force-17 headquarters in Bethlehem. The buildings attacked there were the same ones bombed on Tuesday evening, ynet reported.

Late Wednesday night, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at the Palestinian government building in Ramallah. The missiles reportedly struck less than 20 meters (22 yards) from the office of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, who was meeting at the time with European Union Middle East envoy Miguel Moratinos. According to some media reports, Arafat was speaking on the phone with Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres when the missiles struck.

"Shimon, they are bombing me!" Arafat said, according to Yediot Aharonot. "You speak to me about peace, but the helicopters are bombing us," he added. The newspaper said that Peres said he was sorry, and that he would do everything possible to end the bombardment. Speaking Thursday morning to Army Radio, Peres would not confirm the report.

IDF actions intended to pressure PA to fight terror
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said yesterday that the Palestinians were showing initial signs of a desire for a cease-fire. "The IDF is conducting many operations in the field. This activity will continue to increase our pressure [on them]," he said. "The goal of this pressure is to prove to the other side that through [terror] they won't gain anything. We have an interest in showing the Palestinians that terror is not the way."

A senior IDF officer said yesterday that it would take the army two to three days to reconquer the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and bring about the collapse of the Palestinian Authority. Even so, it was not Israel's intention to cause the PA's collapse or reconquer the territories the officer said, cited in Maariv. He said that the army's actions in Area A were intended to increase the pressure on the Palestinians and force them to stop terror emanating from areas under their control.

Arafat said today that the Israeli attacks would not "shock the Palestinians." Following another meeting with Moratinos, Arafat said, "If the Israelis think they can frighten us with tanks, missiles or Apache helicopters, they are wrong."

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