Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared a major army offensive in the West Bank as a success today but said the missions in the area were not over. Two Palestinians were killed in the overnight operation.
In a speech to the Israeli parliament, he reserved the right to continue raids in the West Bank, to detain suspected militants and halt further attacks against Israelis in a more than 19-month-old Palestinian uprising against occupation.
"We have not finished the job. Our fight against terror continues," Mr Sharon said. "There is not and will not be any hiding place for the terrorists, their helpers and accomplices."
Mr Sharon was speaking after Israeli forces killed two Palestinian intelligence officials and arrested three other people in a raid overnight in the West Bank.
The incursion into the autonomous Palestinian town of Khalkhul near Hebron lasted several hours, Palestinian sources said.
Israeli military sources said local intelligence chief Mr Khaled Abu Khiran and deputy Mr Ahmed Zamaran were armed in a building that was surrounded by troops and were killed as they tried to escape.
In the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources said four Israeli tanks and a bulldozer penetrated 150 metres into Rafah, near the border with Egypt.
Two Palestinians were wounded and three houses damaged in the operation, the sources said.
AFP &