IDF forces enter Kalkilya, take control of Dehaishe camp

Israeli forces entered the West Bank town of Kalkilya overnight and launched house-to-house searches for wanted terrorists and illegal weapons. The town's electricity supply was cut and a curfew was imposed. Some 200 residents of the town were rounded up for questioning. Military sources said that Palestinians have launched many terrorist attacks from Kalkilya at nearby Kfar Saba and other Israeli targets.

Palestinian sources said that some 50 tanks and armored personnel carriers entered the town from three directions before dawn. Kalkilya Governor Mustafa Malki said Israeli helicopters fired missiles at several security installations and at an office of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The governor said two people, a policeman and a civilian, were killed and five people were wounded in the fighting, the Associated Press reported.

Israeli troops also took total control of the Dehaishe refugee camp south of Bethlehem, after it was encircled by the IDF on Sunday. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said that some 600 Palestinian men had been rounded up for questioning in the camp and the army was checking if any of them were on the wanted list.

In the Dehaishe camp the army uncovered three workshops used for the preparation of bombs, Army Radio reported. In nearby Beit Jalla, the army yesterday demolished a house after finding a large quantity of explosive devices inside.

Israeli armored forces, engineering units and infantry troops were active in the central Gaza Strip. The army confirmed that it had taken over a security building near the Bureij refugee camp. Two Palestinians were reportedly killed in gunfire exchanges near the camp.

A 17-year-old Palestinian was killed Monday morning at an army roadblock near the village of Yatta, south of Hebron. Soldiers said the Palestinian vehicle didn't heed orders to stop, even after warning shots were fired in the air. Three other passengers in the car were wounded by the gunfire.

Ellis Shuman Israelinsider.com