A huge military force invaded Bethlehem Friday shortly before midnight, erected several road blocks in the main street, held tens of cars on Hebron-Jerusalem road, and conducted vast searches.
Palestinenet news Website said that soldiers chased several Taxis in the city, near “Bab Al-Zqaq†area, and searched them, no arrests were reported.
Soldiers, as well, raided Beit Jala Governmental Hospital , searched tens of cars parked near the Hospital and checked the Identity cards of tens of residents.
A local source in Bethlehem , said that soldiers also broke into tens of shops and forced their owners to close them.
Later on, soldiers attacked a group of Journalists who were covering the invasion and broke several cameras.
Among the Journalists who were attacked, Mohammad Abu Haneyya, who works for Reuters, and Awni Jubran, who works for Palestinenet news website.
The Friday raid on Bethlehem came one day after army lifted 3 days long siege over the city. Army claimed that isolating Bethlehem came after security received hot alerts of possible attacks in the area.
Army officials desribed the friday invasion as a “precautionary procedureâ€Â
