Israeli forces enter Jenin refugee camp
Israeli troops in armoured vehicles entered the battle-scarred Jenin refugee camp today in search of militants who eluded capture during heavy fighting last month, the army said.
Exchanges of gunfire broke out shortly after the Israeli forces reached the camp at around 3.30am local time (1.30am Irish time), witnesses said.
But the army said its forces did not come under heavy fire and intended to withdraw as soon as it arrested the suspects it wanted.
The military declined to say how many people it was seeking, and there was no immediate word on casualties.
The Israeli forces also surrounded the city of Jenin, in the northern West Bank, but the target of the operation was the adjacent refugee camp, a stronghold for militants, the army said.
Last week, Israel completed a six-week military offensive aimed at militants in the Palestinian cities and towns of the West Bank.
The operation was launched on March 29 following a series of Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel.
But Israeli forces have continued to make brief incursions into the West Bank to arrest or kill suspected militants.
Last month, the Jenin refugee camp was the scene of the heaviest fighting of the Israeli offensive. Israel lost 23 soldiers and more than 50 Palestinians were killed in the nine-day battle.
Israeli armoured bulldozers flattened concrete apartment blocks where militants were holed up in the congested camp, home to about 15,000 Palestinians.
Palestinian officials accused Israeli troops of killing hundreds of people, many civilians, during the fighting.
But Israel called the claim a wild exaggeration, and human rights groups said they have found no evidence of a massacre.
After a Palestinian suicide bombing inside Israel last week, Israeli forces prepared to enter the Gaza Strip to track down militants.
But Israel stopped short of launching the incursion, and the region has been relatively quiet for the past week.
The Haaretz newspaper yesterday quoted Israel’s deputy chief of staff as saying a postponed incursion into the Gaza Strip is likely to still take place.
Major General Moshe Yaalon, who will take over as army chief of staff next month, said it was ‘‘only a matter of time’’ until the Israeli army moves into Gaza.
Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is calling for presidential and parliamentary elections for his Palestinian Authority within six months, a move designed to deflect popular pressure for reform and raise his sagging image among Palestinians.
Mr Arafat’s decision follows US and European calls for reforms and came yesterday, shortly after Palestinian legislators mounted their most high-profile challenge yet to the Palestinian leader: calling for elections within a year and a new Cabinet within 45 days.
Israel has demanded reforms as a condition for resuming peace talks.
Mr Arafat is unlikely to face a strong challenge for leadership. In the last elections, held in 1996, he took 87% of the vote against Samiha Khalil, a female social worker in her 70s. Members of his Fatah faction won 50 of the 88 seats in the legislature.
Previous attempts to reform Arafat’s administration have led to few significant changes, with Arafat ignoring laws passed by parliament as well as decisions by the judiciary.
Israeli officials were sceptical of the calls for reform.
‘‘Regarding any type of reforms whatsoever in the Palestinian Authority, we will have to see it to believe it,’’ said David Baker, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
