IDF forces entered PA-controlled Bethlehem and Beit Jala after midnight last night, in response to Arab shooting on a Jerusalem neighborhood. The operation in Bethlehem was brief, and military forces pulled out shortly afterwards. However, armored forces accompanied by infantry and engineering corps troops are still operating inside Beit Jala, and government sources say there are currently no plans to pull out.
This was the second time that Israeli forces re-liberated Beit Jala since relinquishing control of it in late 1995. The previous instance was in late August of this year, after months of Arab shooting from the village at Jerusalem\'s southern neighborhood Gilo. Israel then withdrew after only a few days when the PA promised to ensure quiet - which it did up until yesterday afternoon. The latest entry came in response to yesterday\'s resumption of terrorist shooting and mortar attacks against Gilo. No residents were hurt, although some homes were damaged. One soldiers was seriously wounded during the offensive when a Palestinian sniper shot at his stomach, and is undergoing emergency surgery.
Sharon thus fulfilled his promise of this past August that if even one shot is fired from Beit Jala at Gilo, he would send the IDF back in to the area.
Exchanges of fire continued throughout the morning in Beit Jala and Bethlehem between Israeli forces and Palestinians.
The residents of Hevron have called upon Prime Minister Sharon to re-take the Abu Sneineh and Haret A-Sheikh hills, after \"it was proven yesterday that the Palestinian promises have no value.\" The hills were given over to the PA\'s Jibril Rajoub and his forces earlier this week. The residents say that the government need not wait for further sacrifices to fall before taking action. Ten-month-old Shalhevet Pass was murdered by sniper fire originating in Abu Sneineh earlier this year, and several residents were also wounded.
This was the second time that Israeli forces re-liberated Beit Jala since relinquishing control of it in late 1995. The previous instance was in late August of this year, after months of Arab shooting from the village at Jerusalem\'s southern neighborhood Gilo. Israel then withdrew after only a few days when the PA promised to ensure quiet - which it did up until yesterday afternoon. The latest entry came in response to yesterday\'s resumption of terrorist shooting and mortar attacks against Gilo. No residents were hurt, although some homes were damaged. One soldiers was seriously wounded during the offensive when a Palestinian sniper shot at his stomach, and is undergoing emergency surgery.
Sharon thus fulfilled his promise of this past August that if even one shot is fired from Beit Jala at Gilo, he would send the IDF back in to the area.
Exchanges of fire continued throughout the morning in Beit Jala and Bethlehem between Israeli forces and Palestinians.
The residents of Hevron have called upon Prime Minister Sharon to re-take the Abu Sneineh and Haret A-Sheikh hills, after \"it was proven yesterday that the Palestinian promises have no value.\" The hills were given over to the PA\'s Jibril Rajoub and his forces earlier this week. The residents say that the government need not wait for further sacrifices to fall before taking action. Ten-month-old Shalhevet Pass was murdered by sniper fire originating in Abu Sneineh earlier this year, and several residents were also wounded.