Israel pressed its sweep for militants in the occupied territories today following a suicide attack by Islamic militants on an Israeli patrol boat that left four sailors wounded.
The Israeli army entered the town of Qubatiyeh near Jenin searching for militants and it demolished homes in Bethehem and the surrounding area, Palestinian security sources said.
In the village of Tekoa, the army demolished the home of Mr Ryad al-Amor, the head of the local armed wing of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, who was jailed by Israel for a series of attacks that left six people dead last spring.
The military also demolished the Bethelehem home of Mr Ibrahim Mussa Abayat, the local head of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Fatah.
Israel expelled Mr Abayat to Cyprus in May along with 12 other Palestinians as part of a deal to end a grueling siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, where militants were trapped by Israeli soldiers for more than a month.
In the village of Al-Khader, the army demolished the home of a suicide bomber, Walid Sbeh, who had belonged to the brigades.
AFP