News from Nablus

The Israeli army pulled its troops and armored vehicles out of Nablus on Tuesday after a three-day operation targeting Palestinian militants that brought life in the West Bank city to a standstill, Palestinians said.

An estimated 50,000 people were confined to their homes in Nablus, the West Bank's commercial center, as troops combed houses and alleys for wanted men. One Palestinian man was killed, and the army said five militants were arrested and three weapons laboratories found.

At dawn, no Israeli forces were visible in Nablus. The army said it had lifted the curfew that shut down large parts of the city in recent days. But it would not confirm the end of the raid, the largest military operation in the West Bank in months, raising the possibility that troops might return.

Israeli troops killed a Palestinian in Nablus yesterday as the army pressed on with its biggest crackdown on residents in the northern West bank city in nearly a year.

Anan Al Tibi, 41, was shot in the neck and killed and his 22-year-old son Ashraf was wounded when Israeli soldiers stormed their home in Nablus’s Old City, Palestinian medical sources said.

An army spokesman said that troops had opened fire on three people on the pretext on apprehending the resistance fighters standing on the roof of a house.

“Two people were identified being hit. One was killed and the other was wounded and treated by the army. He was then taken for questioning after being identified as a member of the Islamic Jihad,” he alleged.

Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian During Nablus Raid
In the West Bank, a 50-year-old Palestinian man has died after being shot by Israeli forces during a raid in Nablus. He was walking down the street with his son in defiance of the Israeli army's curfew. Both men were unarmed. For the past three days tens of thousands of residents of Nablus were forced to stay home as Israel conducted house-to-house searches. Meanwhile two Palestinian youths have been arrested for killing a West Bank settler. His body was found north of Hebron late Sunday.

She recollects, “Cries from the families in the neighborhood and the shouts of soldiers demanding everyone into the streets woke me up. The soldiers proceeded to break into homes and convert them into military installations.”

Kherzoula told PNN that solders invaded several of her neighbors homes and kept them inside within a single room. She said that the Israelis confiscated the cell phones to ensure that families could not communicate with the outside.