Major Israeli incursion into autonomous zone near Nablus
( 2002-01-04 16:21) (7)
The Israeli army with helicopters and tanks raided a Palestinian West Bank village Friday, as US peace envoy Anthony Zinni prepared to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, residents said.
Israeli units entered the village of Tel, in an autonomous Palestinian area near Nablus in the north of the West Bank and imposed a curfew, the residents said.
A military spokesman said: "Our forces have been acting in the locality for several hours, searching for terrorists."
The spokesman said the area had been declared a "closed military zone" off limits to the press.
Israeli public radio said the aim was to capture Palestinians suspected of taking part in anti-Israeli attacks. It said some arrests had been made but not of the alleged ringleaders.
Military sources said such raids, using special forces to snatch "terorrists" had replaced in the past few weeks the much criticised policy of assassinating those alleged to be responsible for suicide and other attacks.
Four alleged members of the Islamic Jihad movement were seized on Wednesday night by Israeli troops in Hebron in the south of the West Bank.
Zinni arrived Thursday on his second mission to the region, after his first broke down last month amid an explosion of violence, and was due to meet Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat Friday.
Israeli security officials who saw him late Thursday said he was seeking an immediate implementation of the so-called Tenet plan for ensuring a lasting ceasefire.
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