IDF nabs 3 fugitives after W. Bank siege

Border Police officer wounded, Palestinian woman killed in Bethlehem clashes.

idf soldiers w guns 88 (photo credit: )
idf soldiers w guns 88
(photo credit: )
As the IDF concluded a 19-hour siege on a Gaza Strip mosque, three Islamic Jihad fugitives were arrested in the West Bank on Friday after the IDF razed a Bethlehem building in which the men had been hiding. An 80-year-old Palestinian woman was killed when she was caught in the crossfire between the fugitives inside the building and IDF soldiers and Border Police that were surrounding the building, Palestinian sources said. Two other residents were reported wounded. The troops repeatedly called on the fugitives to surrender and fired an anti-tank missile at the home in order to try and force them out. One of the border policeman was wounded in his eye by shrapnel and listed in light to moderate condition. Israel Radio reported that two IDF companies had been sent to the area to reinforce the Border Police unit. Meanwhile, Palestinian youths rioted in the vicinity, throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at soldiers.The troops returned fire, wounding five of the rioters. Elsewhere in the West Bank on Friday, IDF troops operating in Nablus killed an Aksa Martyrs Brigades commander - Ahmad Sanakra, 14 - and seriously wounded his brother.The army said that the two were attempting to wire a car with a large amount of explosives. In Ramallah, the IDF arrested the Abdel Rahman Zidan of Hamas, the PA's Public Works and Housing Minister. PA Prime Minister Ismail Hanieh called the arrest an attack on Palestinian legitimacy and an attempt to destroy the PA.