February 20, 2007

The IDF sends bulldozers into Gaza e. of Dayr al-Balah to level 150 m of Palestinian land along the border. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Qalqilya and in Jenin r.c., Qabatya. Unidentified assailants kidnap, quickly release unharmed 3 American women taking photographs outside Balata r.c. nr. Nablus. Egyptian border guards in Rafah arrest a Palestinian attempting to cross fr. Gaza into Egypt through a smugglers’ tunnel carrying an explosive belt; steps up border patrols in response. (NYT, OCHA, WP 2/21; PCHR, WT 2/22)