Israeli troops arrested eight Palestinians overnight in the West Bank town of Tulkarem, including a local leader of the Islamic Jihad militant movement, Palestinian sources said.
The arrests came after 20 Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles entered the occupied Palestinian town and soldiers ringed the home of Mr Mahmud Koleibi (24).
Mr Koleibi, a top official in the Tulkarem branch of the group, was taken in along with another Islamic Jihad member, Mr Fahed Sawalha (22), and six others, the sources said.
Overnight, the army also destroyed the home of Mr Othman Ibrahim Asad Yunes, an activist of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the village of Sniraya, a military statement said.
Mr Yunes was said to have been involved in an attack on the Jewish settlement of Itamar, in the northern West Bank, that killed three people on May 28th last year.
Israel claims its policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinian militants is an effective deterrent, though rights groups deplore it as collective punishment.
AFP