The army continues its nonpolitical security activities
throughout the Palestinian territory as it took up positions
in Bethlehem for a short stay. Soldiers aided by Shin Bet
agents captured three alleged masterminds behind last week's
bombing in Rishon Lezion and also behind a string of bombings
in Jerusalem, including the attack on the supermarket in
March.
In contrast to the large, showy operations of Operation
Defensive Shield, this time the troops gathered farther away
from the Palestinian city, and heavy equipment such as tanks
did not play a large role.
IDF forces swiftly blocked all routes to the major churches
and other Christian sites to head off fleeing Palestinian
terrorists. IDF commanders from the Nachal Brigade said they
are prepared to remain in the city for a number of days as
they seek out and arrest suspected terrorists and organizers
of suicide bombings. But they said this could be cut short if
they fulfill their mission sooner or if international
pressure to withdraw is very strong.
Moving quietly on foot before dawn, troops moved quickly to
Manger Square to block off access to the churches there. They
also moved into the Dehaishe refugee camp and the outlying
neighborhoods of Doha and Ta'amra, where they rounded up 15
terrorists.
The forces also blocked off the psychiatric hospital, which
served as a haven for terrorists last month.
By late morning, the IDF was in control of the city as well
as the Dehaishe and al-Aida refugee camps and outlying
villages such as El-Khader and Artis.
"This operation is not like the mission we had in Defensive
Shield, where we tried to break the armed Palestinian groups
in their cities," said an Army commander.
The commander said Palestinian gunmen offered little
resistance and preferred to go underground. "We believe that
if we stayed here for a week or two they will start lifting
their heads and try to oppose and tail us," he said.
Shin Bet and IDF officers involved in Monday's sweep said
they were amazed at how swiftly the Tanzim were able to
rebuild themselves, particularly after 40 of their senior
members were exiled to Europe or shipped to the Gaza Strip.
This was one of the reasons for reentering Bethlehem, they
said.
Detained by the IDF in its Bethlehem sweep was Ahmad al-
Mughrabi, 28, the local leader of the Aksa Martyr's Brigade.
Also nabbed was Mahmoud Sirhana, 25, and Mughrabi's 16-year-
old brother, Ali.
According to Shin Bet sources, Mughrabi and Sirhana were also
responsible for dispatching the suicide bomber who blew
himself up in Jerusalem's Beit Yisrael neighborhood in March,
killing nine people, and two car bombs, one on Rechov
Hanevi'im and one in Ma'aleh Adumim, that killed two
policemen. They were also behind a number of failed bombings,
the sources said.
Security sources said they believed the arrests of Mughrabi
and Sirhana and the others seriously damaged one of the most
deadly Fatah terrorist squads in the region.
On Monday afternoon an armed task force swept into the
southern outskirts of Ramallah on an arrest raid. Elsewhere,
Israeli forces continued to operate in the Tulkarm and
Kalkilya areas. In Jenin they arrested a leader of Hamas.
Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz said this week
that the Palestinian Authority is doing absolutely nothing to
try to prevent attacks on Israelis.
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben- Eliezer said that despite
continued warnings about plans by Palestinian terrorists to
carry out suicide attacks, Israel was not on the verge of
another large-scale military operation on par with Operation
Defensive Shield.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has
decided to table a judicial reform law, which he signed some
10 days ago, a Palestinian legislative source told The
Jerusalem Post. Arafat's aides informed legislators that
the Palestinian leader would not support the law as currently
constituted.
The judicial law which Arafat recently signed and now has
decided to suspend, was prepared by the Palestinian
Legislative Council several years ago and sets the standards
and rules for the Palestinian judicial system.
A Palestinian political analyst said he was not surprised
that Arafat now demands changes in the law. "He delayed
signing the law for two to three years and only agreed to
sign it after the EU conditioned their funding for the PA
budget on his signing the law," he said.
"It is not surprising that Arafat wants to add provisions to
`declaw' the legislation in a manner that will keep most of
the powers in his hands. That is the way Arafat is used to
running things," the political analyst noted.
There is talk about reforming the 12 security services. The
main problem is the Preventive Security Service, which has
two branches one in Gaza headed by Dahlan, and one in the
West Bank headed by Rajoub. Operation Defensive Shield dealt
a serious blow to relations between the two.
Dahlan criticized Rajoub for agreeing to a US-brokered deal
ending the IDF attack on his compound which, while enabling
some 200 of his men and their families to leave, caused the
arrest of several wanted terrorists who were harbored in
Rajoub's compound. Rajoub defended his actions, saying he did
the only responsible thing and accused Dahlan of trying to
undermine him.
Palestinians said CIA Director George Tenet is not scheduled
to visit the region. Instead, the US will send Assistant
Secretary of State William Burns and an official from the
National Security Council.
