Israeli troops and armoured vehicles took over the West Bank city of Bethlehem today, one day after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 11 people on a Jerusalem bus crowded with students and commuters.
Soldiers began arresting suspected militants and sealed off the Church of the Nativity, revered as the birthplace of Jesus, to prevent any militants taking refuge in the church compound as they did during an Israeli incursion in April.
"We are currently controlling the whole city," a local army commander said, vowing that troops would stay "as long as we have to hit the terror infrastructure in Bethlehem".
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, facing a leadership challenge from hardline Foreign Minister Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, sent the troops into the city just south of Jerusalem following heavy pressure to hit back hard for yesterday's suicide bombing.
But his response is likely to be tempered by calls for restraint by the United States, which fears new violence and tensions in the region could undermine its efforts to achieve calm as it seeks Arab support for a possible war on Iraq.
Soldiers in Bethlehem conducted house-to-house searches for militants spearheading a two-year-old uprising for independence. The army said it was searching for about 30 militants in the city, some of them suspected of involvement in the bus bombing.
Troops rounded up about 20 alleged suspects in Bethlehem and 16 people elsewhere in the West Bank, most of them members of the militant group Hamas which claimed yesterday's attack. Army radio said one was a girl accused of planning a suicide bombing.
The army blew up the home near Bethlehem of the 23-year-old bomber behind yesterday's attack and destroyed the houses of two Hamas members in the Gaza Strip, saying the demolitions sent a message that "their deeds have a price".
Troops also pursued the crackdown in the West Bank city of Jenin where Israeli armour backed by helicopters surrounded a refugee camp which Israel calls a hotbed for Islamic militants.
A Palestinian boy was killed as dozens of Israeli tanks rolled into Jenin and its refugee camp, Palestinian security sources said.
The boy, 12, was killed by Israeli tankfire in Jenin camp as he and others threw stones. A 10-year-old boy was wounded, although it was not clear whether he was hurling stones.
In Gaza, Palestinian security sources said a police officer was killed by a tank shell near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim. The army said the dead man had been in a group of armed "terrorists" attempting to infiltrate the settlement.