WEST BANK: Israeli army raids West Bank towns as Palestinians bury militants killed by troops
Record ID:
559906
WEST BANK: Israeli army raids West Bank towns as Palestinians bury militants killed by troops
- Title: WEST BANK: Israeli army raids West Bank towns as Palestinians bury militants killed by troops
- Date: 18th October 2006
- Summary: (BN10) NABLUS, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 18, 2006) (REUTERS) BLINDFOLDED PALESTINIAN TAKEN TO VEHICLE AS ISRAELI TROOPS RAIDING NABLUS, WOMAN CRYING, KNOCKING ON BACK DOOR OF MILITARY VEHICLE WHERE DETAINEE IS HELD WOMAN IN STREET SHOUTING AT DRIVER'S WINDOW OF MILITARY VEHICLE WOMAN WALKING TO PAVEMENT AS MILITARY VEHICLE LEAVES, PUTTING HANDS IN HER FACE
- Embargoed: 2nd November 2006 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVACQGCR1MDUKJX9HLHMLSPJJOAF
- Story Text: Israeli troops, backed by armoured vehicles, continued to raid the northern West Bank on Wednesday (October 18, 2006), in a search of militants, the military said.
An army spokesperson said the force operating in the West Bank city of Nablus arrested three gunman, including a senior al-Aqsa Brigades leader.
Also in Nablus, mourners took to the streets to bury a militant killed by Israeli forces on Tuesday (October 17).
The mourners carried the body and chanted slogans. Militants fired in the air as women burst into tears.
The men belonged to al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, Palestinian officials said.
The militant was shot dead during an Israeli raid to arrest suspected gunmen. Another civilian was killed during the operation, the officials said.
Israeli troops often raid the West Bank looking for militants.
Elsewhere, in southern Gaza, mourners gathered to bury a militant killed earlier in clashes with Israeli soldiers.
The clashes erupted when Israeli troops backed by tanks pushed deep into the southern Gaza Strip, stepping up a nearly four-month-old offensive, Palestinian residents said.
In the town of Rafah, Palestinian hospital staff said the army killed two gunmen from the governing Islamist group Hamas.
Palestinians also reported that at least two Palestinians were killed overnight in the northern Gaza Strip and identified them as being a gunman from the governing Hamas Islamist group and a civilian.
An Israeli army spokesman said the army was unaware of any clashes between troops and militants in the northern part of the strip where he said forces were operating.
Over the past week, Israel has ramped up military operations that it launched in late June to try to recover a soldier captured in a cross-border raid, curtail rocket fire and find tunnels used to smuggle weapons and carry out attacks.
The Israeli-Palestinian violence has deepened the gloom in the territory, which is also beset by internal clashes between factions loyal to Hamas, dedicated to destroying Israel, and to President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate.
Around 250 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, have been killed in Israeli operations in Gaza since June.
Residents said Israeli forces had reached as deep into southern Gaza as the Rafah terminal, a crossing to Egypt that is Gaza's only access to the outside world without passing through Israel.
The troops did not set up positions next to the terminal itself, which has been open only sporadically since the Israeli offensive started. Although under Palestinian control with EU monitors, Israel still has effective power to shut the crossing.
Following earlier hints that he might sack the government, President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday he had to make a decision soon on the fate of the Hamas administration.
Talks between the two sides on a unity government collapsed after Hamas refused to soften its stand on Israel -- dashing hopes that a coalition might be able to end a Western aid embargo. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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