Israel's occupation army carried out door-to-door searches Saturday in the Tulkarem refugee camp, uncovering explosives and guns and arresting four Palestinians, the occupation army said. The troops were in the camp and the adjacent town of Tulkarem for a second day, an operation that was launched after a series of attacks inside Israel. Tulkarem is just inside the West Bank and many attacks by Palestinian militants have come from the town. (Read photo caption)

As the occupation troops moved into the camp Friday, Palestinian militiamen ambushed Israeli soldiers riding atop an armored personnel carrier at the camp's entrance. One occupation soldier was killed and two were wounded, the occupation army said.

Tank gunners fired shells and machine guns and four Palestinians, including a woman and a 4-year-old child, were wounded, Palestinian doctors said.

Israeli troops on Friday also took up positions in the town of Tulkarem and imposed a curfew. Palestinians were confined to their houses and in one instance, more than 30 women, 50 children and eight men were held in one apartment.

The apartment's owner, Al Maza Badran, told Tulkarem governor Izzedine al Sharif that they had run out of food and water.
Several Palestinian families had been rounded up and held in 15 different apartments for their own protection, military sources said, as the soldiers scoured the neighborhood looking for militants. The army was coordinating with the Red Cross to provide the many families with food and aid.

The latest Israeli incursion into the West Bank came after a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a pedestrian mall on Wednesday night, a bomb attack on Israel's largest fuel depot Thursday, and an attempted attack on a nightclub early Friday.

Israeli soldiers have been carrying out almost daily arrest raids in Palestinian areas, a follow-up to a recent military offensive aimed at dismantling Palestinian groups that have launched scores of attacks against Israelis.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Israeli.occupation soldier gets on top his armored personnel carrier outside Tulkarem before they enter the Tulkarem refugee camp, Friday May 24, 2002. Palestinian militiamen opened fire on Israeli occupation soldiers atop an armored personnel carrier after they entered the Tulkarem refugee camp injuring at least two soldiers. Israeli occupation troops returned fire and four Palestinians including a woman and a 4-year-old girl were wounded. (AP Photo/Uriel Sinai)