The Israeli army continues to remove roadblocks and closures throughout Judea and Samaria. Heavy Arab traffic has been noted particularly near Ramallah. Residents in the nearby towns of Beit El and Ofrah began this morning an armed civil patrol along the routes from their towns to Jerusalem. Organizers say that they are not coming to replace the army, but merely to provide the extra sense of security that the army is currently not giving. The patrolling residents say they will not fire unless fired upon.



In central Shechem today, a leading terrorist figure was killed in an explosion that occurred as he was speaking in a public telephone booth. The dead man was one of the heads of a Fatah group that has claimed responsibility for a long series of fatal terrorist roadside shootings. The IDF would not comment on the incident.