HIGHLIGHTS: Occupation Army Imposes News Black Out on Activities in Jenin & Its Refugee Camp||Jenin Incursion Part of Occupation Army's Rolling Series of Raids Aimed at Detaining Resistance Leaders||Number of Wounded in the Petah Tekva Bombing Now Put at 44|| STORY: The Israeli occupation army raided the northern West Bank city of Jenin early on Tuesday and clashes broke out with Palestinian Resistance men, local witnesses said.

They said Israeli jeeps followed by tanks entered the city from various directions. Shooting and a number of explosions were heard.

At least two helicopter gunships roared overhead during the initial part of the operation, the witnesses said. The incursion began shortly after 2:45 a.m. (7:45 p.m. EDT).

It was not clear whether Israeli occupation troops had entered the camp itself, but they were in the city surrounding it, witnesses said.

An Israeli army spokesman confirmed there was "military activity" taking place in Jenin but declined to comment further.

It was the second time the Israeli army had swept back into Jenin since it occupied the Palestinian refugee camp there last month, triggering the worst fighting and highest casualties of a major five-week offensive.

A woman in the town telephoned Reuters to say Israeli troops had barged into her home and were arresting her husband, but then the line went dead.

The Jenin operation appeared to be part of the Israeli army's rolling series of army raids of Palestinian West Bank towns, which it says are aimed at seizing more Palestinian militants linked to a resumption of bombings.

The raid occurred hours after a Palestinian bomber blew himself up at an outdoor cafe in a town near Tel Aviv, killing two people and wounding 44 in a hail of glass and metal shards, police and medical workers said.

The Israeli army stepped up raids on other Palestinian towns across the West Bank on Monday, targeting what it calls bomber networks driving the revolt raging since peace talks stalled in September 2000. (Read photo caption)

In an intensifying clampdown, the occupation army reoccupied and declared a curfew in the city of Qalqilya, tightened its encirclement of Tulkarm and swept back into Bethlehem, making several arrests.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Israeli armored personnel carrier passes a checkpoint at the entrance of the West Bank city of Qalqiliya May 27, 2002. Israel maintained its military grip on the West Bank city of Qalqilya and enforced a curfew in Tulkarm as the occupation army intensified raids into Palestinian-ruled areas following four bomb attacks within a week. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen