Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday vowed to wage a "relentless attack" against the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) and its commanders following the Netanya suicide bombing attack on Tuesday.

"Yesterday I ordered police and Israeli security services to launch a relentless attack against the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization and its commanders," Sharon told reporters at the Ben- Gurion Airport as he welcomed hundreds of new immigrants arriving from North America.

Some 20 military vehicles swept into the West Bank city of Tulkarm early Wednesday morning, a few hours after the Islamic Jihad suicide bomber from the area blew himself up in Netanya, a short distance to the west of Tulkarm, witnesses said.

Two armed Palestinians were killed in the Tulkarm raid and a third militant was wounded, said the witnesses.

Two Israeli soldiers sustained light wounds in the operation.

Five Islamic Jihad militants have been apprehended as a result of the operation, and some arms and explosives seized by the Israeli troops in the town.

Senior Israeli officials said that the purpose of the operation was to destroy the Islamic Jihad infrastructure in the city and that the Israeli troops would remain in control of Tulkarm "for as long as is needed."

Tulkarm's security control was handed over to the Palestinian National Authority following a mutual ceasefire declaration by Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in February.

Israel also placed the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip under total closure for an indefinite period of time after Tuesday's attack.

The commander of Israeli troops in the West Bank, Brigadier General Yair Golan, told Israel Radio he believes the army will require "several days" in order to achieve maximum results.

Right after the attack, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered a suspension of talks between Israeli and Palestinian defense officials.

He also instructed the defense establishment to prepare a detailed plan to crack down on the Islamic Jihad.

A 18-year-old suicide bomber carrying an explosive belt of 7-10 kilogram killed four Israeli women and wounded some 90 others at the Hasharon shopping mall in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya late Tuesday.

Saraya al-Quds, an armed wing of the radical Islamic Jihad group, reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack while a senior leader of the Islamic Jihad said the attack "is a natural reaction to the daily Israeli violation of the calmness the movement accepted in March."

By Wednesday morning, 30 people were still in hospital, three of whom in serious condition.

Abbas used harsh words condemning the suicide bombing as " idiotic," saying those behind it would be punished.

"This was a crime against the Palestinian people and those who were behind it must be working against our people's interest and must be punished," Abbas said.

"Those behind it were behaving idiotically. There is no rational Palestinian who can conduct such an act at a time when Israel is beginning its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip," Abbas denounced.

Within Israel, politicians from both the left and the right differed in their interpretations of the attack.

"The illusion that the disengagement plan will end terror was exploded in Netanya," declared Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz from the right-wing Likud party.

But Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz from the left-wing Labor Party insisted that the perpetrators were trying to foil the disengagement and destroy any hopes for peace, and Israel can not give in by delaying the disengagement plan.

Source: Xinhua