The Israeli army completed its limited pullback early Tuesday from the cities of Tulkarem and Qalqilya, but at the same time Israeli forces moved into the village of Dura, south of Hebron. Tanks and armored personnel carriers streamed into the town before dawn as helicopters provided cover from the air. The sound of gunbattles could be heard, witnesses toldAP.
Palestinian sources reported Monday that Israeli forces had pulled out of the nearby village of Yata.
While tanks and troops moved out of Tulkarem and Qalqilya, they maintained a tight blockade around the two cities. There were reports of ongoing gunbattles as the troops redeployed. As of Tuesday morning, Israeli forces remain in Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin and Bethlehem.
Before departing Tulkarem, Israeli troops blew up the installations of the Palestinian Authority's intelligence service in the city. Palestinian sources reported that the Israelis pulled out of schools they had occupied in Tulkarem.
A statement issued by the Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer on Monday night said that the departing troops would maintain a “cordon” around the cities. Ben-Eliezer said the operation was a success and "dealt a heavy blow to the terrorist infrastructure" in the two cities, where weapons were seized and wanted activists were arrested.
The Palestinians dismissed Israel's limited withdrawal as a sham.
"This is a new Israeli lie because, as they pulled back, they tightened the siege on the two cities and entered new areas," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said.
"If this lie will pass with the Americans this means their conspiracy is continuing because they know that what happened is a maneuver," he told Reuters.
According to Israeli reports, the army established control overnight Monday in the Old City in Nablus, where there has been fierce fighting over the last few days. There were reports of 50 Palestinians killed in the fighting.
AP reported dozens of Palestinian gunmen surrendered to Israeli troops while scores more lay wounded on blankets on a mosque floor. Some of the men were dying, and doctors lacking even the most basic supplies operated on others without anesthetics.
Gunbattles continued Tuesday in the Jenin refugee camp, located in the northern West Bank, and which has been the site of some of the strongest Palestinian resistance. Israel Radio reported over 150 Palestinians, most of them gunmen, killed in the camp. Israeli helicopter gunships fired missiles into the camp on Monday.
In Bethlehem, the standoff around the Church of the Nativity, where dozens of Palestinian gunmen are holed up inside along with a group of monks, continued into Tuesday. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
