Thousands of Arabs living in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas began streaming towards various sections of the partition fence, as part of their commemoration of today's "Day of Rage" declared by Yasser Arafat. Several violent incidents were recorded by early this afternoon: Several Israeli policemen were lightly hurt in one of several Arab rock-throwing incidents... Rioting Arabs near Netanya/Tul Karem were dispersed with tear gas... Police arrested three PA Arabs for threatening and trying to force Jerusalem Arabs to close their stores in solidarity with the "Day of Rage" ... Another approximately ten PA Arabs were arrested after they threatened Arab school administrators in Jerusalem for similar purposes.
The protests were scheduled to coincide with the start of the ICJ hearing against Israel. PA schools were closed today to enable all pupils to take part in the disturbances. Israeli Army forces in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) are at heightened alert, one level under a state of emergency, anticipating increased violence and attacks. A record number of 52 specific terrorist warnings have been received by the intelligence forces.
Defense Minister Mofaz said yesterday that Israel would not retaliate militarily for yesterday's murderous attack, but it is assumed that there will be no choice but to take action against the terrorist infrastructure that has been created in Bethlehem over the past several months. The IDF withdrew forces from Bethlehem early last summer. The murderous terrorists in the bus bombings of yesterday and last month came from the Bethlehem area. This pattern is a repeat of previous ones: Arutz-7's Yesha correspondent Haggai Huberman noted in February 2003 the dangers of the IDF withdrawing from PA-controlled areas: "Even in areas where terrorism is down, it's only because of the IDF presence. Wherever there is no such presence, we have suffered: The 22 dead in the Hevron area are the results of the withdrawal from Hevron last October, and when we withdrew from Bethlehem, the result was the Kiryat Menachem bus bombing in November that killed 11..."
IDF forces last night destroyed the home of the Fatah Al-Aqsa Brigades terrorist who carried out yesterday's murderous terror attack. The 23-year-old terrorist lived in the village of Hussan, in the Bethlehem area, south of Jerusalem. This afternoon, security forces razed the Shechem-area home of another terrorist who was responsible for murdering two Israelis and wounding two others.
It was released for publication today that Israeli soldiers operating in the Balata slum of Shechem last night discovered and safely neutralized a 15-kilogram bomb that had been prepared for use in an attack against Israelis. The soldiers were targeted by gunfire, though no one was hurt. Terrorists taken into custody during the operation led the soldiers to the bomb.
The protests were scheduled to coincide with the start of the ICJ hearing against Israel. PA schools were closed today to enable all pupils to take part in the disturbances. Israeli Army forces in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) are at heightened alert, one level under a state of emergency, anticipating increased violence and attacks. A record number of 52 specific terrorist warnings have been received by the intelligence forces.
Defense Minister Mofaz said yesterday that Israel would not retaliate militarily for yesterday's murderous attack, but it is assumed that there will be no choice but to take action against the terrorist infrastructure that has been created in Bethlehem over the past several months. The IDF withdrew forces from Bethlehem early last summer. The murderous terrorists in the bus bombings of yesterday and last month came from the Bethlehem area. This pattern is a repeat of previous ones: Arutz-7's Yesha correspondent Haggai Huberman noted in February 2003 the dangers of the IDF withdrawing from PA-controlled areas: "Even in areas where terrorism is down, it's only because of the IDF presence. Wherever there is no such presence, we have suffered: The 22 dead in the Hevron area are the results of the withdrawal from Hevron last October, and when we withdrew from Bethlehem, the result was the Kiryat Menachem bus bombing in November that killed 11..."
IDF forces last night destroyed the home of the Fatah Al-Aqsa Brigades terrorist who carried out yesterday's murderous terror attack. The 23-year-old terrorist lived in the village of Hussan, in the Bethlehem area, south of Jerusalem. This afternoon, security forces razed the Shechem-area home of another terrorist who was responsible for murdering two Israelis and wounding two others.
It was released for publication today that Israeli soldiers operating in the Balata slum of Shechem last night discovered and safely neutralized a 15-kilogram bomb that had been prepared for use in an attack against Israelis. The soldiers were targeted by gunfire, though no one was hurt. Terrorists taken into custody during the operation led the soldiers to the bomb.