Bethlehem / Kristen Ess – Israeli forces swarmed the rain soaked streets of Bethlehem Wednesday night. Four jeeps camped out at Rachel’s Tomb in front of the Wall and a sniper tower. Soldiers held a lone car at gunpoint.

A young man with Downs Syndrome stood in the middle of the street on the western edge of Al Azzeh Refugee Camp directing traffic away from the invading army until friends arrived and pulled him into a car.

Northern Bethlehem became a field of U-turns around 8:30 pm with jeeps stopping traffic in the intersections on New Street en route to the Church of Nativity: same scene as the night before.

Five military vehicles, including two large jeeps normally used for arrests, parked in front of Caritas Baby Hospital disrupting movement to Checkpoint 300 and the houses that are now in the folds of the Wall twisting through the area.

On the eastern and western sides of Al Azzeh Refugee Camp young people threw stones at parked army vehicles parked at the northeastern entrance of the camp. Soldiers fired concussion grenades, the explosions piercing the darkened streets. A small blue truck was hit.

The sting of tear gas hovered, caught in the mist of the damp night air.

No arrests were reported. It remains unclear the specific point of the Israeli army for the incursion which lasted until 3:00 am, but after Tuesday night when a similar operation was undertaken a military spokesperson said they were looking for youth who had thrown three Molotov Cocktails at the Wall.

Some local residents say that the Fateh - Hamas conflict is involved with the Palestinian Authority standing back while Israeli forces attempt to take out the Hamas party. In Al Azzeh Refugee Camp a 14 year old girl described trying to study while the soldiers were outside. "They came into the camp wearing normal clothes, that's how they got in. I just sat in the living room the whole time. I drank a bottle of coke and two cups of tea to stay awake."