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Jun 5, 2002
Israeli troops return to Bethlehem following wave of suicide attacks
By Judith Sudilovsky
JERUSALEM (CNS) — Dozens of Israeli jeeps and armored troop carriers returned to Bethlehem, West Bank, May 25 following several suicide bombings led by Palestinian militants.
The Israeli army swept through the city in search of a man wanted in connection with the May 22 terrorist attack in the Israeli city of Rishon Letzion.
The raids continued in other Palestinian areas after an Israeli woman and her 18-month-old granddaughter were killed May 27 in a Palestinian suicide attack on an ice cream parlor in Petach Tikvah, a suburb of Tel Aviv.
Israeli troops later reported the arrest in the Bethlehem area of three suspected militants whom they said had assumed leadership of the Palestinian Tanzeem militia and helped plan the Rishon Letzion suicide bombing.
Israeli soldiers also entered Manger Square to prevent Palestinian militants from taking refuge in the Church of the Nativity. Reports said that troops also encircled a psychiatric hospital before other troops searched the area for terrorist suspects.
Franciscan Father Amjad Sabbara said May 28 that tanks were no longer in front of the church, nor could they be seen in the streets around the church, although a curfew remained imposed.
"We hope we won't return to the same situation as before. We have had enough of that," he said.
The Israeli army also operated in the Dehiyshe refugee camp and the two nearby villages of al-Khader and al-Duha.
The army said 32 terrorist attacks had been disrupted or foiled in a one-month period.
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