Israelis Crack Down On West Bank After Suicide Bombings

Israeli soldiers closed down a mosque and a youth group run by the Islamic militant group Hamas and sealed off several West Bank villages Monday as part of their hunt for militants who plotted two recent suicide bombings in Jerusalem.

In one village, Palestinians burned tires and threw stones at soldiers at roadblocks.

One Israeli soldier, kneeling on the ground, aimed his assault rifle toward a village as a warning to residents trying to leave. The main road was closed off by a string of metal spikes.

Israel’s Channel 2 television said the blockade is intended to prevent another bomb from reaching Israel. Altogether, five bombs have been detonated in suicide attacks on July 30 and Sept. 4. The attacks, blamed on Hamas, killed 20 Israelis.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Monday he believes the bombers were sent from abroad, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is “100 percent certain” the assailants came from the West Bank.

In response to the bombings, Israel has detained hundreds of suspected Hamas activists. Israeli troops raided several West Bank villages Sunday and arrested dozens more Hamas members.

Monday, Israeli troops shut down a mosque in the West Bank village of Dura and closed a Hamas-affiliated youth club in the nearby village of Samoa.

Nayef Rajoub, prayer leader at the Dura mosque, said soldiers seized some 100 books on geography, politics and other issues. But copies of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, were left untouched, said Rajoub, brother of the West Bank’s Palestinian security chief, Jibril Rajoub.

“Our own security officers can’t do anything to help. It just shows that Oslo (the peace agreement) can only bring disaster to our people,” Nayef Rajoub said, adding that he had called his brother to complain.

Dura is run by the Palestinian Authority, but Israel retains overall control over security as it does in all other West Bank villages.

In addition, the Israeli army added roadblocks throughout the West Bank. At the entrance to Jericho, soldiers forced travelers to open their car trunks for inspection and also checked ID cards.

But Israel took conciliatory measures, too.

The army announced it is further easing the closure of the West Bank and Gaza. Starting this morning, another 8,000 Palestinian workers will be allowed into Israel, bringing the number of those allowed in to 13,000.

And Israel army radio said Netanyahu has ordered police to prevent the entry of additional Jewish settlers into Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Such an order, if confirmed, would constitute a dramatic shift in policy by Netanyahu, who staunchly has supported Jewish settler groups buying Arab homes to cement Israeli control there.