Sunday, April 21, 2002

The IDF completes its withdrawal to the outskirts of Nablus, including evacuating Jewish settlers fr. Joseph's Tomb, which the IDF retook on 2/11/02; pulls out of all of Ramallah, except for maintaining a cordon around Arafat's compound. Sharon announces the end of the "1st stage" of Operation Defensive Shield. Areas vacated by the IDF today report severe vandalism and looting, including attempting to blow open bank safes to steal cash reserves. In Nablus, hospital officials say a total of 75 Palestinians were killed, 160 seriously injured since 4/3; the IDF says 1 soldier died fighting in Nablus, 9 were wounded. In Bethlehem, 5 Palestinians fr. the Church of the Nativity surrender. In Dahaysha, the IDF conducts house-to-house searches, detaining at least 16 palestinians. (JP [Internet] 4/21; MENA 4/21 in WNC 4/22; JT, MM, NYT, WP 4/22; AYM 4/23 in WNC 4/29; MM 4/29)