Israeli security forces have arrested Hamas militants from East Jerusalem suspected of carrying out a bombing at Hebrew University last month that killed nine people, including five Americans.
Security officials announced the arrests shortly after Israeli tanks raided a Gaza Strip refugee camp, destroying buildings and killing a Palestinian man in an incursion which shook a fragile security plan seen as a test for a truce.
Officials from Israel's Shin Bet security service said five members of a Hamas cell were caught on Saturday night on their way to mount a new bombing in central Israel.
The group is suspected of having carried out attacks which killed 35 people in some of the deadliest bombings since the start of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in September 2000.
Israeli security officials said they would pass on their findings to the FBI, which launched its own probe of the July 31st bombing in a crowded cafeteria at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.
The attack - which was carried out by the Islamic group Hamas to avenge the killing of its military commander, his deputy and 14 others, including nine children - drew harsh condemnation from President Bush.