Israel sends squad into Bethlehem

A small Israeli force entered Bethlehem early today apparently to retaliate for a suicide bombing by a Palestinian policeman in Jerusalem that killed 10 and wounded 50.

Residents said about 20 Israeli military vehicles entered the town before daybreak. The operation appeared limited to arresting suspects and possibly destroying the house where the bomber lived, in the Aida refugee camp next to Bethlehem.

Israeli military officials would say only that an operation was in progress in Bethlehem.

Late last night, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz met to consider options after the suicide bomber destroyed the bus just a block away from Sharon’s official residence.

Israel’s leadership was divided over how hard to hit back.

In the past, Israel has responded to such attacks with large-scale raids and clampdowns. But this time, the army did not even impose the up to now routine measure of banning all Palestinians from entering Israel.

Sharon’s top deputy, Ehud Olmert, argued against a stiff reprisal, calling previous retaliatory strikes “ineffective”.

However, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom called for expelling Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The suicide attack in the heart of Jerusalem played into Israel’s hand as it tried to make a case for a contentious barrier it is building along the West Bank, dipping deep into the territory in some places.

Israel insists the barrier of trenches, fences, walls, razor wire and electronic sensors is necessary to keep suicide bombers out. Palestinians charge it is a land grab, aimed at preventing them from establishing a state.

Next month the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, is to hear arguments about the legality of the barrier, and yesterday’s bombing could be used as a case in point by the Israelis.

However, the case could be blunted by heavy-handed military retaliation, shifting the world’s focus away from the suicide attack.

The bomber was a Palestinian police officer – causing much chagrin within the Palestinian Authority, which has been under international pressure to use its police force to stop such attacks.

The bombing was the deadliest since a female suicide bomber killed 21 people at a seaside restaurant in Haifa on October 4. The last suicide bombing inside Israel was at a bus stop outside of Tel Aviv on December 25, killing four people.

Sharon said the Palestinian Authority, headed by Yasser Arafat, “does not lift a finger to remove the scourge of terrorism from its midst”.

He was speaking at a state memorial ceremony for three soldiers whose bodies were returned to Israel on Thursday in a swap with the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Also handed over was an Israeli businessman, Elhanan Tannenbaum, who faced police and security service interrogation about the dealings that brought him to Beirut and Hezbollah captivity.

All four were abducted in October 2000.

In exchange, Israel freed 400 Palestinian prisoners and 36 others and returned the bodies of 60 Lebanese.