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Israelis conduct second day of West Bank raids

Smoke billows Friday from the West Bank house of a Palestinian policeman who, Israel says, killed 11 people on a Jerusalem bus Thursday.
Smoke billows Friday from the West Bank house of a Palestinian policeman who, Israel says, killed 11 people on a Jerusalem bus Thursday.

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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli forces entered Bethlehem early Saturday for the second day in a row, arresting three suspects and conducting house-to-house searches before pulling out, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

On Friday, Israeli forces raided the West Bank town and arrested five Palestinians the IDF wanted for questioning. The troops also demolished what they said was the house of the suicide bomber who carried out a terror attack aboard a bus in Jerusalem on Thursday, the IDF said.

In a statement, the Israeli army said demolishing the attacker's house "sends a message to suicide bombers and their accomplices that anyone who participates in terrorist activity will pay a price."

The death toll in the Jerusalem attack has risen to 11, an Israeli police spokesman said Saturday.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported the 11th victim was a woman but said her name hasn't been released to the public.

The paper identified the other victims as Avraham (Albert) Balhasan, 28; Rose Bona, 39; Chana Anya Bunder, 38; Anat Darom, 23; Natalia Gamril, 50; Yehezkel Goldberg, 42; Baruch Hondiashvilli, 38; Dana Itah, 24; Eli Tsfira, 48; and Octovian Floresco Viorel, 42.

The bomber, a Palestinian policeman, slipped undetected onto a passenger bus during rush hour and set off the blast. At least 45 people were wounded in the attack. (Full story)

"There is a vast amount of terror activity [in Bethlehem] despite the Palestinians' obligation to thwart terror activity," the IDF said.

In other military operations Friday, the IDF said its forces shot and killed a wanted Hamas operative near Hebron in the West Bank. Troops also killed two Palestinians they suspected of preparing an attack near the Israeli settlement of Dugit in Gaza.

In addition, Israel forces in the West Bank arrested a wanted Islamic Jihad operative near Jenin and destroyed six homes in Ramallah that the IDF said belonged to jailed Hamas operatives.

The U.S. State Department has labeled Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist group, as a terrorist organization. The group's military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, has admitted responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians as well as attacks against the Israeli military.


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