IDF Returns to PA

(Ha'aretz) Amoz Harel - Exactly a month after the cease-fire collapsed in the rubble of the terror attack on Jerusalem's No. 2 bus, IDF soldiers have resumed activities in the territories that predated the truce. On Thursday a Golani infantry unit entered Jenin to carry out a major anti-terror operation which could last for days. Soldiers found and detonated a booby-trapped car in the center of the city, thereby thwarting plans to carry out a terror attack. In recent days the army has resumed activities in Palestinian-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip, including Thursday's operation at Nuseirat refugee camp in which Jihad Abu Suheireh, a prime terror suspect, was killed. Abu-Suheireh, from Hamas' military wing, was considered a key player in the production of weapons in northern and central Gaza. As soldiers surrounded the terrorist's home, one IDF man, Amishav Pelai, squared off directly in front of Abu Suheireh, who was armed with a Kalashnikov rife. The two men opened fire at one another at point-blank range. Three bullets hit Pelai in his arms and legs, and another four were deflected by his protective vest. Abu-Suheireh, who was wounded in this gunfight, was then shot and killed by other IDF men. A senior IDF officer said Abu Suheireh's decision to put up a fight characterizes the behavior of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. "They are not the kind who surrender," said the officer, unlike the members of Fatah-affiliated Tanzim militias, who turn themselves in without a fight "on the assumption that they'll be released in a prisoner swap after a year or two."


2003-09-19 00:00:00

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