According to Yediot Acharonot, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has called off an IDF operation that was to take place in the Balata neighborhood of Shechem. The operation was reportedly called off in order to avoid tensions with the Palestinian Authority before the Annapolis conference in late November.
IDF sources said soldiers continue to operate in the area, and have recently arrested several terrorists and stopped some “ticking bombs” who were planning attacks in the near future. The cancelled operation was to include a large number of forces, and was meant to destroy as much as possible of the neighborhood’s terrorist infrastructure.