IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha’ul Mofaz and other top army officers visited the IDF forces in the Abu Sneineh and Haret A-Sheikh hills in Hevron this morning. The forces liberated the areas from the Palestinians four days ago following months of terrorist fire onto the Jewish neighborhoods below them. Several Israelis were wounded in the attacks during this period, and one, ten-month-old Shalhevet Pass, was killed with a bullet to her head last March.
Mofaz also met with representatives of the Jewish Community in Hevron, who thanked him for the action, which, they said, is \"a literal life-saver and a genuine let-up in our constant tensions.\" They asked that the IDF never again leave the hills, which were handed over to Arafat and the PLO in the framework of the Hevron Accords in early 1997. Hevron Arabs declared a day of mourning when the IDF took over the neighborhoods.