The Israel Defense Forces imposed a complete closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip at midnight Thursday, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins Saturday night.

The closure is to last until midnight on Monday. Under such a closure, Palestinians are banned from entering Israel, except for a few humanitarian cases. The closure will not affect operation of commercial crossings.

"The IDF regards the holiday period as a highly sensitive time, security wise. Due to this fact, the IDF will enhance its alertness to ensure the safety of the citizens of Israel, while preserving, to the best of its ability, the daily life of the Palestinian population," the IDF said in a statement.

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The IDF halted its large-scale arrest operation in the West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday, despite the failure to capture the senior militants the army had set out to arrest.

The operation, titled "Hot Winter," began on Saturday, and included four IDF battalions and Border Police troops. Security forces were able to arrest 11 wanted Palestinians, and discovered three weapons factories as well as an arms cache. The army was unable, however, to arrest the six militants that headed the wanted list for the operation.

22 wanted Palestinians were arrested throughout the West Bank in additional operations.

One infantry soldier was moderately wounded during the operation by shrapnel from an explosive device in the city's casbah, and was evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva for medical treatment. Two additional soldiers sustained light wounds.

On Monday, 50-year-old Anan al-Tibi was killed by troops who fired on an armed Islamic Jihad militant that was standing next to him. In addition, Palestinians sources said an 18-year-old man was critically wounded by IDF fire directed at stone-throwers in the city.

Israeli moderately wounded in West Bank shooting
Earlier Thursday, an Israeli civilian sustained moderate wounds in a shooting attack in the northern West Bank.

The man was shot at a checkpoint north of Qalqilyah, and sustained wounds to his hand and chest.

Earlier Thursday morning, IDF snipers wounded an armed Palestinian in the Fara'a refugee camp, northeast of the West Bank city of Nablus.

Three wanted Islamic Jihad militants were arrested in the operation, conducted by an ultra-Orthodox unit of the Nahal brigade.

Militants set off an explosives device and fired at troops operating in the city, Army Radio reported. There were no casualties in the incident.

Meanwhile, a Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed Thursday morning in the western Negev, north of the Strip. No injuried were reported, but a greenhouse was damaged.

The incident in the refugee camp occurred after snipers identified three Palestinians, who according to the IDF were armed, standing on the roof of a mosque in the camp. The snipers opened fire, hitting one of them.

IDF troops pushed ahead Thursday morning with a hunt for militants in Nablus, surrounding a building with jeeps and armored vehicles and using loudspeakers to call on wanted men to turn themselves in.

It was the fifth day of the sweep through Nablus, the army's largest West Bank operation since July. The army says most of the suicide bombers involved in attacks over the past year came from the city, known as a militant stronghold.

Early Thursday, soldiers left the narrow stone alleyways of the casbah, or old city, lifting a curfew that confined tens of thousands of people to their homes.

The forces regrouped around an apartment building in one of the city's newer neighborhoods, emptying the building of civilians and demanding the surrender of wanted militants inside.

No violence was reported.

Early Thursday, the army released 47 people who were taken for questioning at a roadblock outside Nablus, municipal officials said.

In the nearby West Bank town of Jenin on Wednesday, undercover troops in a black car opened fire on a vehicle carrying three Islamic Jihad gunmen, killing them. The army said the men were involved in planning an attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that was thwarted last week.

Five Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel on Wednesday, causing no injuries or damage.