Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinian policemen as tanks entered the West Bank city of Hebron. Another Palestinian man was killed when he attacked an Israeli army position in the Gaza Strip.
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Israeli soldiers secure a street in Hebron
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On the Gaza Strip soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man who threw grenades at an Israeli army position while arrests of Palestinian suspects were unabated on the West Bank.
Several dozen Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles moved into Hebron, population 140,000, and clamped a curfew while an armoured column rumbled into the nearby town of Dura, the Palestinian sources said.
The four policemen were in the Hebron headquarters of Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat when Israeli troops opened fire. At least five other Palestinians were injured in the assault.
More than 100 Palestinian policemen were also arrested in the attack on the building that houses various Palestinian security services and the Hebron governor's office.
The head of Hebron's intelligence services, Mr Nizam al-Jaabari, was among the prisoners, Palestinian security sources said.
The Israeli army said Palestinians inside the compound fired at its troops and they returned fire. It also said policemen inside the compound had turned themselves in.
The army also confirmed it had blown up the house of Hamas militant Mr Yasser Sharabati, saying it was used to manufacture "explosive belts ready to be used by suicide bombers," and that it neutralised "the explosive lab."
The move into Hebron was the latest step of Israel's Operation "Determined Path", launched last week after two suicide bombings in Jerusalem and an attack on a West Bank settlement that killed 31 Israelis.
It gave the army control of seven of the West Bank's eight major towns, sparing only Jericho.
AFP