Israeli forces invaded the Jenin refugee camp and the city of Jenin, in the northern West Bank, on Monday morning, and abducted one Palestinian. Separately, two Palestinian men were taken from the Jenin checkpoint later in the day for allegedly possessing weapons.Early Monday morning, eyewitnesses reported Israeli jeeps and military vehicles patrolling through the alleyways of the Jenin refugee camp. No one was arrested, but the troops then proceeded into the city of Jenin, where they ransacked a number of houses and abducted Jamal Mahdi, taking him to an undisclosed location.
Later on Monday, Israeli forces detained two men at the checkpoint leading away from the city of Jenin, after searching their bags and finding ten pipe bombs, a make shift hand-gun, and bullets, according to Israeli daily, Haaretz..
The two men are aged twenty, but no further information was given on the identities of the two Palestinians, or where they were taken by the Israeli troops.
A week ago, the Israeli military sealed off the city of Jenin for several days after a Palestinian man was detained at the checkpoint to the city for possession of 11 pipe bombs. Residents fear a similar closure will be imposed by the Israeli military this week, following the detention of the two men at the checkpoint on Monday.
The Israeli security forces beleive, due to the proximity in time and place of the two incidents, that all the men were intending an attack on or around the military court near the Salem checkpoint. The soldiers were on hightened alert, and were suspicious of the two men arriving late Monday morning, carrying the two hand-hold bags.
