Israeli occupation forces thrust into Palestinian-ruled areas and abducted a number of civilians

Additional Reporting By Mustafa el-Sawwaf, IOL Palestine Correspondent

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, April 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli occupation forces gunned down Wednesday, April 16, a Hamas activist near the West Bank town of al-Khalil (Hebron) and completely sealed off the Palestinian territories for fear of attacks during the Passover holidays.

"The Palestinians of the West Bank as well as those of the Gaza Strip will not be authorized to enter Israel, following alerts of attacks being prepared during the feast," an Israeli spokesman said.

He said the Allenby and Adam bridges over the Jordan river linking the West Bank to Jordan, and the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt would also be closed, reported Agance France-Presse (AFP).

The closures will remain in effect at least until Sunday, April 20, the spokesman said.

The Palestinians slammed the Israeli closures of their areas as a collective punishment.

Since the beginning of the Intifada some 30 months ago, Israel has regularly closed off the territories to Israel, although even when the closure is not in place Palestinian access to Israel is extremely limited.

In another related development, Israeli forces swept into the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin and abducted a number of Palestinian civilians.

"A large number of Israeli tanks backed by Apache helicopter gunships pushed into the camp, which triggered clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters for some three hours," Al-Jazeera correspondent said.

"The invading forces carried out house-to-house searches, abducting at least three civilians amid a sporadic fire shooting," he added.

On the diplomatic front, Israel suffered a setback when U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said late on Tuesday, April 15, that the long-awaited "roadmap" for Middle East peace will be published soon without changes, despite strong Israeli reservations.

The roadmap, completed in December by the international diplomatic "quartet" on the Middle East but delayed due to political developments, will be released in its original form once a Palestinian prime minister is confirmed, Powell said.

UNHCR Condemns

Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHCR) has sharply criticized Israel for its treatment of Palestinians and for its continued building of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories during a meeting in Geneva.

The commission approved four resolutions condemning Israel's repressive measures and called for an end to Israeli settlement activities.

A motion from African and Arab countries condemned Israel for carrying out mass killings of Palestinians.

And two other motions were approved – one reiterating the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, the other asking Israel not to change the character of the Syrian Golan Heights which it has occupied since 1967.