HIGHLIGHTS: Occupation Forces Enter Deir al-Balah Make Arrests, Destroy Houses and Briefly Take over Police and Intelligence Headquarters||Israeli Occupation Army Clears itself of Killing Palestinian Civilians in Cold Blood||Israel Clamps Further Strict Security Measures on Palestinian Cities as it Prepares to Celebrate a String of Holidays|| STORY: Israeli armored personnel carriers and tanks raided a Palestinian town in the Gaza Strip on Saturday and arrested a Resistance leader.

Maher Bashir, a local leader of the Resistance Jihad group, was detained with three brothers. Israeli occupation troops took them from their homes during the raid in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

An Israeli occupation army source said there was a "targeted operation" in the area, but gave no further details.

The sources said occupation troops blew up empty buildings belonging to the Palestinian civil emergency service and the Fatah faction of President Yasser Arafat.

They withdrew after about three hours, briefly taking over police and intelligence headquarters.

Jihad is one of several Palestinian Resistance groups which have carried out Resistance bombings and other attacks during the two-year old Palestinian uprising against occupation.

ISRAELI OCCUPATION ARMY CLEARS ITSELF OF KILLING PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS IN COLD BLOOD

An internal army investigation on Friday cleared Israeli occupation soldiers who killed 12 Palestinian civilians in cold blood in three incidents last week, prompting angry Palestinian complaints of a whitewash. None of those killed carried firearms.

The report said that in two cases, Palestinians were moving in a suspicious manner in areas that are off-limits to civilians, and soldiers acted according to regulations when they opened fire.

Responding to the findings, Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said it was "shameful for Israel not to bring to justice those who kill innocent children, innocent mothers in cold blood."

ISRAEL CLAMPS TOUGH SECURITY MEASURES AS IT PREPARES TO CELEBRATE A STRING OF HOLIDAYS

With the start of the Jewish Near Year, Israel clamped curfews on the West Bank towns of Nablus, Ramallah, Tulkarem, Jenin and Qalqilya, as well as parts of Hebron.

In Jenin, about 4,000 people defied a curfew to bury two Resistance activists killed by Israeli occupation troops earlier in the day. Resistance men exchanged fire with Israeli occupation troops for about an hour, but there were no reports of injuries.

Also Friday, Israel imposed curfews on most West Bank towns and froze Palestinian travel to keep out militants during the Jewish New Year's holiday. The restrictions confined more than 630,000 Palestinians to their homes.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that the situation in Gaza, where a truce had been tested, "has only gotten worse, day by day." Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Israel would not carry out the handover of Gaza to Palestinian security, as initially planned under last month's gradual truce deal.

PHOTO CAPTION

Israeli Army soldiers and a bulldozer work to recover the main part of an Israeli Army tank, upside-down at right, which was blown up by a bomb hidden under a road early Thursday, near al Maghazi, Gaza Strip, Aug. 5, 2002. One Israel soldier was killed and another wounded in the attack. An umbrella group representing several Palestinian factions claimed responsibility. (AP Photos/Brennan Linsley)
- Sep 05 6:45 PM