Troops mount raid on Palestinian town

Israeli forces raided the Palestinian town of Tulkarem today, killing a police officer who fired on troops hunting down Islamic Jihad militants responsible for a suicide bombing. A second police officer was critically wounded.

Earlier, Palestinian officials said both police officers were killed.

Troops declared a curfew on Tulkarem, effectively taking back control of the area that Israel handed over the Palestinians in March under the terms of a ceasefire declared a month earlier.

Brig Gen Yair Golan, commander of the West Bank division, said the operation was open-ended.

The arrest raid began just hours after Islamic Jihad carried out a suicide bombing in the coastal city of Netanya, killing three Israelis. Islamic Jihad has a strong base in Tulkarem, the army said, and the troops’ goal was to root out the militants. Five militants from the group were arrested overnight, Golan said.

“The specific goal of this operation is to destroy the Palestinian Islamic Jihad infrastructure in Tulkarem and its surroundings,” Golan told Israel’s Army Radio, adding that the operation would continue for “as long as necessary”.

Israeli officials acknowledged the bomber came out of a village under their control and intelligence branches failed to uncover the plot. The army’s ability to prevent attacks decreased significantly after the Palestinians took over the area, Golan said.

“We expected the Palestinians would do much more. This didn’t happen and it appears that alongside the operation against Islamic Jihad … this is meant to show that if the Palestinian Authority doesn’t deal with the terrorism that lives in it then we will be forced to do so.”