JERUSALEM – Israel yesterday arrested four Palestinians preparing to carry out bombing attacks inside Israel, officials said.
The suspects, members of Islamic Jihad, were among 22 seized in security sweeps that began Wednesday night.
The arrests came as Egypt intensified efforts to unite all Palestinian terrorist organizations behind a pledge not to carry out attacks inside Israel. Egypt will host a conference of Palestinian factions in Cairo next week.
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Col. Ilan Ramon, an Israeli fighter pilot who bombed Saddam Hussein’s nuclear reactor in 1981, became his country’s first astronaut yesterday when he blasted off from Florida aboard the Space Shuttle.
Col. Ilan Ramon and six fellow crew members will spend 16 days in space conducting more than 80 experiments.