Only hours after it was announced that Yasser Arafat was free to leave Ramallah, IDF forces entered and took over most of the city last night. Golani and Nachal brigades, together with armored forces and elite units with combat helicopter coverage, penetrated the city from three different directions. Their goals are the same as in other recent offensives: house-to-house searches for wanted terrorists, explosives labs, weapons and ammunition. The forces met opposition in the morning hours, including anti-tank rockets, but it has weakened since then. Two Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded, and four Palestinians were killed.
The forces were instructed not to harm Arafat or Tanzim head Marwan Barghouti, although they are encircling the home of Barghouti\'s colleague Hussein a-Sheikh. IDF bulldozers, inside Ramallah for the first time in a long while, razed the home of Wafa Idris, the woman who perpetrated the last Jaffa Rd. attack in Jerusalem. Hundreds of men were rounded up for questioning, as in Tul Karem and Dehaishe in previous days.
The forces were instructed not to harm Arafat or Tanzim head Marwan Barghouti, although they are encircling the home of Barghouti\'s colleague Hussein a-Sheikh. IDF bulldozers, inside Ramallah for the first time in a long while, razed the home of Wafa Idris, the woman who perpetrated the last Jaffa Rd. attack in Jerusalem. Hundreds of men were rounded up for questioning, as in Tul Karem and Dehaishe in previous days.