The IDF conducts arrest raids in Bayt Umar, Hebron, Qalqilya; conducts house-to-house searches in Qalqilya and Tulkarm, killing 1 Palestinian; maintains curfews (begun 5/25) on villages along the Green Line in those areas; reinforces the closure of Nablus. In Gaza, 3 Palestinians (including a woman, child herding cattle) are killed by IDF tank fire; the IDF bulldozes 30 dunams of land, a PSF post nr. Qarni crossing in Gaza. Troops withdraw to the outskirts of Bethlehem early this morning, after arresting 1 Palestinian. In Kefar Saba, an IDF soldier shoots, wounds a deaf mute Israeli Jewish bus passenger whom he thought was suicide bomber because of his suspicious silent behavior, refusal to obey orders to take off his shirt to prove he was not carrying a bomb. (HP, NYT, WP, WT 5/27; LAW 5/29; PCHR 5/30)
Sunday, May 26, 2002