Two Palestinians were killed Sunday afternoon when the car they were traveling in exploded north of the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Israeli Army Radio reported.
Israeli security forces said that the two Palestinians were on their way to carry out a bombing attack inside Israel. "They (the Palestinians) blew up the car after being told to stop," an Israeli border police spokesman said. "From the information we have now, two terrorists were killed inside the car."
Jordanian man
A Jordanian man who was attempting to infiltrate into Israel was shot and killed early Sunday by Jordanian troops, a senior Jordanian security official said. According to Israel Radio, investigations indicated the person was an unarmed civilian.
The Israeli army and the Jordanian army were carrying out a joint investigation, the Israeli radio said.
Elsewhere, Israeli soldiers Saturday night detained three Palestinians. According to press reports, Israeli troops nabbed two Fatah-Tanzim activists and another man.
The arrests were made in northern Ramallah, according to the reports.
Jenin
Meanwhile, citing the killing of a senior Islamic Jihad activist in Jenin on Saturday, Israeli forces pulled back to the outskirts of Jenin on Sunday, two weeks after troops backed by heavy armor swept into the West Bank city in search of Palestinians behind suicide attacks in Israel.
Eyad Sawalhe was killed during a gun battle with occupation troops Saturday morning. The Israeli army said that with his death, the majority of the its goals in Jenin area had been achieved. Some 200 Palestinians were arrested in the operation, Israel Radio reported.
The Islamic Jihad leadership vowed, however, that it would not be deterred by Israel's moves to cripple the movement. "This operation and crime will not break our strength and our resistance and our jihad will continue," Sheikh Abdallah Shami, an Islamic Jihad leader in the Gaza Strip, told Reuters. "The Islamic Jihad will respond to this crime and our strike will be even more painful." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
