Military

DATE=05/28/2002

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (S)

NUMBER=2-290272

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICE AT:

INTRO: The Israeli army has swept into the West Bank town of Jenin, a brief incursion that killed at least one Palestinian. V-O-A Correspondent Meredith Buel in Jerusalem reports the operation came hours after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and two Israelis.

TEXT: Israeli troops, backed by armor and helicopter gun ships raided the Palestinian-ruled town of Jenin as part of the military's rolling campaign to track down militants.

Witnesses reported heavy exchanges of gunfire between soldiers and Palestinian gunmen.

The army says it captured the local leader of the militant group Hamas, Rami Awad, during the incursion.

After the brief operation the army withdrew from Jenin.

The raid followed a Palestinian suicide bombing at a shopping mall in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv. Two Israelis, an 18-month-old girl and her grandmother, were killed in the blast.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militia linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombing, saying it harmed the interests of the Palestinian people.

Israeli officials blamed Mr. Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, saying they are not doing enough to crack down on militant groups planning attacks against Israelis. (Signed)

NEB/MB/JWH