Israel arrests three Palestinian terror suspects

Palestinian boys look at a car destroyed by Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Irthas, south of Bethlehem on Tuesday.

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli forces Tuesday arrested a senior Islamic Jihad activist and two other Palestinians suspected of terrorist activity in the West Bank village of Irthas, south of Bethlehem.

Israel used infantry, tank and engineering forces during the operation, according to a statement by the Israel Defense Forces.

The soldiers were fired on a number of times but none were injured, the IDF statement said.

Six Palestinians were wounded in exchanges of fire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said.

Israeli forces left the Palestinian-controlled area after the operation was completed, the IDF said.

In other developments, Jerusalem police said six houses and two cars were damaged Tuesday morning by Palestinian fire from the West Bank town of Beit Jalla on the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Female bomber

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Palestinian sources said Tuesday that a 27-year-old woman from a refugee camp in the West Bank was responsible for Sunday's bomb blast in west Jerusalem that killed one Israeli and wounded more than 100 others.

Sources identified the woman as Wafa Idrees, a resident of the Al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah.

Palestinian security sources, however, would not confirm that Idrees was the bomber, saying they were waiting for DNA tests of a woman found dead at the scene.

The security sources did say that Idrees had disappeared and her mother had a heart attack upon learning of the bombing.

Israeli police have not yet said whether they believe the woman was a suicide bomber or was planting a bomb that prematurely detonated.

Idrees would be the first female suicide bomber in the campaign of violence being carried out by Palestinian militants within Israel.