The Palestinian Authority thwarted a suicide attack about six weeks ago that a young woman from Nablus had planned to carry out in Israel, Palestinian security sources have told Haaretz. The woman, who belongs to the Islamic Jihad, was arrested by the Palestinian security forces.

A spokesman for the Palestinian forces, Adnan Damiri, said he had no information on the subject.

According to Palestinian security sources, they have recently thwarted a number of attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians.

Rocket handover

It was reported Monday that Palestinian security forces handed over to Israel a makeshift rocket that had been manufactured in the village of Beit Sira near Modi'in.

Several Hamas activists were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the group trying to manufacture the rocket.

Dozens of Palestinians rioted yesterday in Hebron following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to declare the Tomb of the Patriarchs a Jewish heritage site.

The disturbances centered mainly on Shalala Street in the center of the city, on the boundary between the Israeli- and Palestinian-controled areas of the city.

Also Monday, a former head of the Palestinian security forces, Fahmi Shabana, showed a film in which Rafiq al-Husseini, PA President Mahmoud Abbas' chief of staff who was dismissed amid allegations of a sex scandal, harshly criticizes Palestinian leaders.

Shabana called a press conference in which he presented documents allegedly showing that one of Abbas' former advisers, Hikmat Ziyad, sold a house belonging to the Palestinian Liberation Organization to a church that Shabana said was "controled by the Zionists." The house is located near the Old City.