Three soldiers killed in Jenin

[gelatik]

Fierce fighting in the Jenin refugee camp cost the lives of three soldiers -
Sgt. Ro'i Tal, 20, of Ma'alot-Tarshiha; Cpl. Oded Kornfein, 20, of Kibbutz
Ha'on; and Sgt. Marom Fisher, of Moshav Avigdor - over a weekend that also saw
troops move into the Nablus casbah.

A total of 12 soldiers have been killed in Operation Defensive Shield. A
soldier killed in Jenin on Thursday was identified as St.-Sgt. Gad Ezra, of Bat
Yam.

Reports from the battlefield were unverified, as the IDF has barred journalists
from the territories. Palestinian reports said bulldozers have razed at least
15 houses in Jenin, and they are claiming 30 to 100 people have been killed.

A senior IDF officer in the Jenin area told Israel Radio yesterday the army is
close to clearing out the entire refugee camp. He said the army is determined
not to let any of terrorists get away. Some top special force units are
participating in the battle there, security sources said.

"They have their backs against the walls. We trapped them in there, attacked
them with the intention they should surrender. Those that don't surrender, we
will kill them," said division commander Brig.-Gen. Eyal Shlein.

The IDF gave the Palestinians five-days warning before it entered Jenin. Senior
officers said this was to allow them to stock up on food. But terrorists took
advantage of the period to booby-trap the refugee camp and other parts of the
city.

Fighting in Nablus is focused on the casbah, where troops are said to be moving
slowly house-to-house. A paratrooper was severely wounded there on Friday.

The IDF also moved into Kabatiya south of Jenin, where gunfire were reported.

Last night, the army said it lost one of its drones in the Nablus area due to a
technical malfunction. It went out of control near Yitzhar, the army said.
Palestinians initially reported they had shot down a helicopter.

On Friday, Border Police special forces intercepted a Hamas squad in Tubas.
Among the six shot dead were senior fugitives, including Qais Adwan, 25, the
mastermind of the Pessah suicide bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanya, which
killed 26 people.

The army said Adwan, from the Jenin refugee camp, was the top Izzadin Kassam
commander in the region and had a hand in many severe attacks. Besides planning
the Netanya attack, security sources said he also recruited the suicide bomber
who attacked Haifa's Matzah restaurant, killing 16 people.

He was known as an expert bomb maker and the mastermind of Kassem rocket
production in the West Bank, security sources said.

Also on Friday, rockets fired by an IAF helicopter hit a car driven by Islamic
Jihad activist Ziad Shweike. He leaped from the vehicle at the last moment and
reportedly escaped. Four bystanders were lightly wounded, reports said.

In Ramallah, explosions and gunshots were heard coming from the office where
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is holed up with bodyguards and
top aides.

The IDF last night fired a LAW rocket towards Arafat's headquarters.

The army said Palestinians had fired and threw hand grenades at troops
stationed in the Mukata compound. The soldiers returned fire. Arafat aide Nabil
Abu Rudeineh said four bodyguards had been wounded. He also told Reuters tank
shells had hit inside the PA cabinet room.

On Friday night, 40 Palestinian fighters surrendered to IDF troops. The army
said they are suspected of hostile actions, and included two colonels and four
lieutenant-colonels. They were taken for interrogation.

OC Air Force Maj.-Gen. Dan Halutz said at a press conference yesterday there
has been a dramatic reduction in terrorist attacks since the IDF campaign
started.

Halutz revealed footage filmed by a drone showing a Palestinian gunman shooting
from a mosque minaret. He said this is proof of the cynical use of holy sites,
knowing he IDF would not return fire.

He said the IDF needs four weeks for the offensive, and said troops are moving
slowly and carefully "without using brutal force" to spare civilians.

Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz visited the burned out Ramallah
headquarters of Jabril Rajoub's Preventative Security Service, Israel Radio
reported. It said Mofaz was shown a room from which Rajoub's forces monitored
IDF movements and another room with disguises.