Israeli tanks have encircled the Palestinian-ruled city of Jenin in the West Bank this morning.
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Mr Brian Cowen
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The move comes ahead of meetings today that could see Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Cowen discuss Middle East peace with Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat.
The Minister is on a five-day fact-finding tour of Middle East capitals in preparation for Ireland's chairmanship of the UN Security Council next month.
Mr Cowen is to meet Israeli and Palestinian officials today, and attempts have been made to organise discussions with both leaders. He met Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres and Egyptian President Mr Hosni Mubarak yesterday.
The Israeli army said today’s encirclement of Jenin is designed to block more suicide bombers from reaching Israel.
Israeli fire seriously wounded at least four Palestinians during the operation, carried out in darkness, Jenin hospital officials said.
Israel mounted the Jenin operation against a city it described as a "terrorism nest," two days after an Israeli Arab suicide bomber killed three Israelis in the northern town of Nahariya.
It was not immediately clear what effect the incursion of tanks some two miles into Palestinian-ruled territory would have on plans for truce talks between Mr Arafat and Mr Peres.
In separate fighting, Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli border policemen at a base not far from the West Bank town of Tulkarm, an Israeli ambulance service official said.
Additional reporting