The IDF sends troops, APCs into Bethlehem, reoccupying most of the city, directing shells and heavy machine gun fire at residential areas, demolishing the home of senior Islamic Jihad mbr. Muhammad Shihada; troops still hold most of Bethlehem at nightfall. The IDF also fires tank shells, machine guns a Palestinian mother, daughter working their farm nr. the Gaza border with Israel, killing them; the IDF says they were in a prohibited area. Denied passage by the IDF, a Palestinian woman gives birth at a checkpoint; the baby dies. The IDF withdraws to the outskirts of Tulkarm r.c.; at least 9 more IDF soldiers have been injured in the operation since the fatal ambush on 5/24. The IDF imposes curfews on Palestinian villages along the Green Line nr. Qalqilya, Tulkarm. (AFP, NYT, WP, WT 5/26; WP 5/27; LAW 5/29; PCHR 5/30; MEI 5/31)
An "intense debate" is reportedly underway among U.S. Pres. George W. Bush and his senior advisers over whether to press for Arafat's removal. Arafat adviser Muhammad Rashid, in Washington for several days for a low-key meetings with U.S. officials at the CIA, Pentagon, State Dept. and with Jewish leaders, argues that Arafat is central to the peace process. (NYT 5/26)