Israeli Military Blows Up Attacker's Home

Another reason, they said, could be that a major military offensive would draw international attention away from the bombing as the world court prepares to hear arguments on the legality of a separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank. Israel says the barrier is necessary to keep out Palestinian attackers; Palestinians say it amounts to a land grab.

The Bethlehem incursion, the first in six months, lasted just 12 hours, and Israel did not clamp a closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip as it has routinely in the past.

The target was the Aida camp. Several dozen jeeps and armored vehicles moved slowly through darkened streets in convoys, training spotlights onto houses.

Soldiers ringed the bomber's house. Figures could be seen moving past brightly lit windows in second floor and walking down an outdoor staircase. A few hours later, troops blew up the house with explosive charges.

The military said it arrested several suspected militants. It was the first military operation in the city since troops left the town in July as part of a larger withdrawal called for under a U.S.-backed peace plan. Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat condemned the raid. "Instead of sending soldiers and tanks to Bethlehem, Israel's government should have sent negotiators to resume a meaningful peace process," he said.

In other developments Friday:

-Troops shot and killed an Islamic Jihad member, Jihad Suwaiti, near the West Bank city of Hebron. The military said the man fired shots as soldiers came to arrest him, and troops returned fire.

-In the Gaza Strip, a tank crew shot and killed two Palestinians. The military said it fired on a group carrying two explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades near the Israeli settlement of Dugit shortly after midnight.

-Elsewhere in the West Bank, troops demolished six where Hamas militants captured by Israeli forces used to live. More than 50 people were left homeless. The arrested men are accused in two recent shooting ambushes that killed five soldiers.

-In the West Bank town of Jenin, Israeli troops arrested Islamic Jihad leader, Sharif Tahaymeh, who had been on Israel's wanted list for more than three years.

Thursday's bombing disrupted a visit by two senior U.S. State Department officials, David Satterfield and John Wolf, who were trying to persuade Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia to meet with Sharon as a way of restarting the stalled "road map" peace plan. The two envoys were at Israel's Defense Ministry when the bomber struck.