Early this morning IDF forces moved into two more PLO villages in the continuing effort to wipe out Yasser Arafat’s terrorist infrastructure. The offensive comes despite repeated demands from the US and most of the world to immediately end \"Operation Defensive Shield.\" The troops, backed by tanks, entered Bir Zeit in the Ramallah district and the Dahariya neighborhood near Hevron. Soldiers began house-to-house searches for wanted Arab terrorists and for illegal weapons.
At the same time, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer ordered IDF forces out of 24 Arab villages, including Kabatiya (Jenin area), and Yatta and Samoa (Hevron). Ben-Eliezer says that the missions in those areas have been completed. During IDF searches in the villages, wanted Arab fugitives were arrested and explosives laboratories and materials were found and destroyed. US government officials praised Israel\'s withdrawal from those areas, and said that Arafat is concurrently expected to call off all terrorism and violence.
At the same time, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer ordered IDF forces out of 24 Arab villages, including Kabatiya (Jenin area), and Yatta and Samoa (Hevron). Ben-Eliezer says that the missions in those areas have been completed. During IDF searches in the villages, wanted Arab fugitives were arrested and explosives laboratories and materials were found and destroyed. US government officials praised Israel\'s withdrawal from those areas, and said that Arafat is concurrently expected to call off all terrorism and violence.