HIGHLIGHTS: No reports of Casualties in Jenin, Curfew Imposed||Occupation Troops Withdraw from Tulkarem After Plunging the City in Darkness Overnight||Israel Begins Building Fence Sunday||(Read photo caption)|| STORY: Israeli occupation forces entered two Palestinian cities in the northern West Bank, carrying out searches for Palestinian militants, the occupation army and Palestinian witnesses said Saturday.

Tanks and armored personnel carriers backed by two helicopters entered Jenin early Saturday morning. Late Friday night, the army made a brief incursion into Tulkarem, withdrawing early Saturday morning.

In Jenin the helicopters fired warning shots, but nobody was hurt, and there were no immediate reports of arrests, Palestinian security officials said.

The occupation forces declared a curfew and searched for suspected Palestinian militants in Jenin.

The pre-dawn raid was the latest in a series of almost daily incursions into Palestinian-ruled territory that have maintained pressure on Palestinian militant groups.

The occupation army said a patrol entered Jenin because of intelligence reports that militants planned an attack from the city.

During the recent massive Israeli operation against militants in the West Bank cities, the heaviest fighting and the worst damage was in the Jenin refugee camp

TULKAREM PLUNGED IN DARKNESS OVERNIGHT

Late Friday, Palestinian witnesses said shooting erupted after Israeli occupation soldiers entered the West Bank city of Tulkarm and plunged it into darkness after firing at the main power plant. The occupation troops have since withdrawn.

ISRAEL BEGINS BUILDING FENCE SUNDAY

Israel on Sunday was to begin building an 80 million U.S. dollar fence along part of the border in an attempt to keep out Palestinian Resistance gunmen and bombers.

The Palestinians believe the barrier is part of a secret Israeli plan to carve up the West Bank. About 75 square kilometers (30 square miles) in the West Bank have already been seized by the Israeli military.

The fence is to run from northeast of Tel Aviv to south of Afula, a town in northern Israel. It will separate the West Bank towns of Jenin, Tulkarem and Qalqiliya from nearby Israeli cities that have frequently been targeted by Palestinian attackers.

Nearly 70 suicide bombings have been launched from the West Bank, compared to none from the Gaza Strip, which is fenced in.

PHOTO CAPTION

A red and green fence marks the place where Israelis will erect a 75-mile barrier near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Monday, June 10, 2002. Israel is fencing in part of the West Bank to keep out Palestinian suicide bombers and gunmen who have killed more than 520 Israeli during 20 months of fighting. (AP Photo/ Eitan Hess-Ashkenazi).
- Jun 14 5:49 PM ET