Posted on 06/20/2002 7:40:44 PM PDT by Clive
Witnesses: Israeli Tanks Roll Into Nablus
June 20, 2002 09:48 PM ET
NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli armor rolled into the West Bank city of Nablus before dawn on Friday, just hours after Palestinian militants killed six Israelis in a near-by Jewish settlement, Palestinian witnesses said.
Dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, including bulldozers, entered the city from three different directions. Some of them surrounded the Balata refugee camp on Nablus's southern outskirts and others rumbled toward the main government headquarters, the witnesses and security officials said.
In the western sector of the city, troops opened fire sporadically, but there were no reports of resistance by local gunmen or injuries. Soldiers announced over loudspeakers that a curfew had been imposed on the city.
An Israeli army spokesman would not comment on reports troops had entered Nablus.
Palestinian gunmen killed six Israelis, including a mother and three of her children, in a raid on the nearby Itamar settlement in the West Bank on Thursday.
It was the third major attack against Israelis in as many days, following two suicide bombings in Jerusalem which killed 26 people. The three attacks yielded one of the highest Israeli death tolls in a short period since the start of a Palestinian uprising against occupation in September 2000.
Israel has vowed to retake and hold parts of Palestinian territories in response to such attacks, extending the duration of what had been regular army raids into West Bank cities to arrest militants in recent months.
Palestinian witnesses said Israeli troops had stationed six mobile shelters on a hilltop overlooking Nablus, suggesting their stay in the area could be prolonged.
A patrol of Israeli army vehicles passes the bombed ruins of the police headquarters in Bethlehem June 20, 2002. The Israeli army reentered Bethlehem just before dawn searching houses, arresting several activists and imposing a curfew on the town. The latest action follows a policy announced by Israel on Wednesday that it would seize and hold parts of Palestinian territory in retaliation for suicide attacks.
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