Israel\'s Operation Defensive Shield drew closer to its final conclusion this morning as the IDF withdrew from most of Ramallah. Palestinian reports are that Israeli tanks are now deployed around the city, blocking all entrances. Israeli forces continue to remain in the area of Arafat\'s Mukata compound, confining the PLO leader to his offices until he hands over the murderers of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi and Fuad Shubaki, who masterminded the Karin-A arms smuggling operation.
Israel continued wrapping up the operation over the weekend with the withdrawal from Shechem. Forces remain in buffer zones around this and other cities and PLO-controlled towns, including Jenin, Tul Karem, Bethlehem, and Kalkilyeh. Israeli troops and tanks continue to surround Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, where some 200 Arab terrorists have taken dozens of Christian clergymen as hostages and refuse to give themselves up.
Since the anti-terrorism offensive began over the Passover holiday, Israel has confiscated thousands of illegal guns with ammunition as well as hundreds of explosive belts meant to be used in suicide attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Hundreds of Arabs wanted by Israel for terrorist activity gave themselves up or were caught, and dozens of others were killed. In addition, more than twenty bomb-making factories were discovered and dismantled in civilian areas, and mortar shells and Kassam rockets were seized.
Israel continued wrapping up the operation over the weekend with the withdrawal from Shechem. Forces remain in buffer zones around this and other cities and PLO-controlled towns, including Jenin, Tul Karem, Bethlehem, and Kalkilyeh. Israeli troops and tanks continue to surround Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, where some 200 Arab terrorists have taken dozens of Christian clergymen as hostages and refuse to give themselves up.
Since the anti-terrorism offensive began over the Passover holiday, Israel has confiscated thousands of illegal guns with ammunition as well as hundreds of explosive belts meant to be used in suicide attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Hundreds of Arabs wanted by Israel for terrorist activity gave themselves up or were caught, and dozens of others were killed. In addition, more than twenty bomb-making factories were discovered and dismantled in civilian areas, and mortar shells and Kassam rockets were seized.