The Israeli army has swept into the Palestinian town of Bethlehem and surrounding areas for the second time in two days. Dozens of Palestinians have been seized, including the local head of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Ahmed Moghrabi, during house-to-house searches in the Dheisheh refugee camp close to Bethlehem. The army has sealed off the town and imposed a curfew to conduct their operation, which Israel said was to "hit the infrastructures of terrorism and preserve the gains of Operation Defensive Wall", its massive offensive through the West Bank in April.