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Last update - 14:35 19/09/2007
Palestinian killed as IDF hunts for Hamas cell in Nablus raid
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents

A Palestinian man was killed Wednesday morning in the West Bank city of Nablus, as Israeli forces continue their hunt for a local Hamas-led cell believed to be planning a suicide bombing in Israel.

Palestinian eyewitnesses identified the man as 35-year-old Adib Salim, and added that he was disabled, unarmed, and not involved in the fighting. Palestinian sources said Salim was, however, a Hamas member and the brother of Jamal Salim, a top Hamas commander killed by the Israel Defense Forces.

Family members told Reuters that Salim had been disabled in a 2001 Israel Air Force strike in Nablus.

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Israel Radio quoted military sources as saying Salim was killed during a firefight between soldiers from the Heruv Battalion and three armed militants.

The soldiers also reported wounding two additional Palestinian militants during the night, although Palestinian sources did not report additional casualties.

On Tuesday, IDF Staff Sergeant Ben-Zion Henman, whose unit was participating in the Nablus operation, was shot and killed by Palestinian gunmen. (For more, click here to watch Haaretz.com TV)

During the operation, electricity was cut off, leaving the 5,000 residents of the crowded camp without power, and some families reported having no water.

It was not immediately clear why electricity and water supplies were disrupted.

Witnesses also accused the IDF of knocking down walls as soldiers moved from one building to the next in house-to-house searches.

The IDF said it was checking the witnesses' reports as well as the reasons for the disruptions in electricity and water.

IDF troops arrested seven Palestinian militants in separate West Bank operations overnight Tuesday.

The army has carried out several operations in the camp in recent days, in an attempt to track down the cell's leaders. Brigadier General Noam Tivon, commander of the IDF forces in the West Bank, said that the troops were sent into the camp on the basis of specific intelligence information.

"We arrested some members of the group," Tivon added. "The operation is continuing. It has included some close-quarters fighting, in which a soldier was killed."

There is considerable opposition within the IDF to easing movement restrictions on residents of Nablus, as officers claim that terrorist groups in the city continue to be intent on sending suicide bombers into Israel.

According to Palestinian sources, some Fatah militants are also still refusing to lay down their arms, and most of them are in the Ein Beit Ilma refugee camp or in Nablus itself. These militants have joined with members of other groups in an effort to unravel the amnesty deal that Israel offered to Fatah gunmen in return for putting down their arms.

Moreover, several of those who did sign up for the amnesty deal continue to hold on to their arms, contravening the agreement, the sources said.

Also Tuesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said security forces' operations in the West Bank will continue, because they contribute to preventing attacks against Israelis.

He added that any decision to remove roadblocks and ease travel restrictions on the Palestinian population, as part of an effort to boost Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, will be based in large part on security considerations.

Barak also supports exercising great caution in removing roadblocks and easing movement restrictions on Palestinians. He discussed this issue Tuesday during a visit to Central Command headquarters, accompanied by Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.

Barak's plan is to remove 10 to 20 dirt and cement obstacles positioned on roads that connect villages with highways. For now, he has no intention of removing major, permanent checkpoints at main intersections.

Barak stressed that roadblocks will be removed only "in line with security considerations." He added that he supports easing restrictions on Palestinian civilians, but in weighing the desire to improve Palestinians' daily lives against security considerations, the latter will always win.

According to the IDF, there were 10 shooting incidents in the camp Tuesday. In addition, bombs were detonated against the forces. Troops found large quantities of weapons and ammunition and arrested four militants.

However, many of the more senior militants were not found, and IDF sources said that these militants are still planning to carry out a suicide bombing.
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  1.   So mush for harmless kids huh.... 03:06  |  Adrian de Klerk 19/09/07
  2.   olmert should be 100% to blame for this 04:12  |  vik 19/09/07
  3.   Hamas cell in Nablus 05:07  |  Connie 19/09/07
  4.   All you need is luv.... 05:17  |  Mark 19/09/07
  5.   amazing how shamefull we can be 05:19  |  Ovi 19/09/07
  6.   Occupation breeds civil revolt... 05:25  |  POP 19/09/07
  7.   Why did we try to eliminate Meshal the way we did? 05:44  |  Fortuna Benmayor 19/09/07
  8.   What deal have the PA honored? 05:44  |  r 19/09/07
  9.   IDF working hard to provoke incidents 05:48  |  Natallie Durson 19/09/07
  10.   Well Said Vik 06:23  |  Boss Hog 19/09/07
  11.   War children! 06:32  |  Niva dos santos 19/09/07
  12.   #8 Durson 06:39  |  Ben Bekhor 19/09/07
  13.   "Hamas Cell Planning Attack" - I Call Bullsh*t 06:56  |  chet 19/09/07
  14.   Ovi 06:59  |  Connie 19/09/07
  15.   #8, Durson 07:00  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 19/09/07
  16.   they won`t kneel 07:37  |  allen 19/09/07
  17.   natalie durson *9 07:49  |  mike 19/09/07
  18.   IDF hunting Hamas cell 07:57  |  BOB KING 19/09/07
  19.   hey Connie..... 08:00  |  jake 19/09/07
  20.   All checkpoints must remain in place so long as they help to 08:02  |  Ben Aharon 19/09/07
  21.   Mike and The Wall 08:09  |  jake 19/09/07
  22.   Interesting 08:16  |  Colin Wright 19/09/07
  23.   ..which is "believed" to be planning 08:26  |  Clickfool 19/09/07
  24.   Peace will be only when 08:31  |  Joubin 19/09/07
  25.   POP the empty balloon 08:33  |  Jasmine Murphy 19/09/07
  26.   # 12 Kohn 08:45  |  Natallie Durson 19/09/07
  27.   POP goes the weasel 08:49  |  Oddvark 19/09/07
  28.   #14, Cipora Julianna Kohn - Qustions to you 09:25  |  Anton 19/09/07
  29.   #2 and John wayne 09:31  |  refugee 19/09/07
  30.   "Disabled, unarmed and not envolved in the fighting" 09:33  |  Billy boy 19/09/07
  31.   There is no occupation, only lies 09:33  |  No dope 19/09/07
  32.   "according to IDF officers" ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha 09:38  |  Esther 19/09/07
  33.   connie 13 09:52  |  realism 19/09/07
  34.   ARAFAT sang"A million martyrs to Jerusalem" with Pal children. 10:17  |  PETER S .M. 19/09/07
  35.   To Ovi #5 10:25  |  Moti 19/09/07
  36.   #26, Durson: "forever" 10:36  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 19/09/07
  37.   CFOOOL.Terror attack by Hamas is out of character,right? 10:41  |  PETER S.M. 19/09/07
  38.   Clickfool:Excellent insight 10:42  |  Admirer 19/09/07
  39.   natallie durson one day venom and the next reason 10:44  |  lev 19/09/07
  40.   #26, Natallie Durson on CPK 10:49  |  Anton 19/09/07
  41.   as long as the dead are not jewish, all is fine 10:56  |  mehmet 19/09/07
  42.   #28 Anton 11:04  |  Yude 19/09/07
  43.   #30 Billy Boy target 11:09  |  Baker 19/09/07
  44.   #23 11:12  |  Sheikh Rattle & Roll 19/09/07
  45.   mehmet 11:16  |  ataturk 19/09/07
  46.   #35 Moti 11:24  |  Sheikh Rattle & Roll 19/09/07
  47.   #41 Mehmet on jews 11:26  |  jew 19/09/07
  48.   barak against a gaza invasion 11:29  |  lev 19/09/07
  49.   #36, Julianna Cipora Kohn 11:31  |  Anton 19/09/07
  50.   mehmet 41 11:34  |  ChanahS 19/09/07
  51.   #42, Yude 11:36  |  Anton 19/09/07
  52.   what Bias garbage is this haaretz??? 11:39  |  Alon Fisher 19/09/07
  53.   no disabled man was killed in the fighting!!!! 11:45  |  Alon Fisher 19/09/07
  54.   Esther you have become a drivelling idiot 11:47  |  Alon Fisher 19/09/07
  55.   Ben Zion Henman 11:49  |  God 19/09/07
  56.   #49 Anton 12:04  |  Dabadabadoo 19/09/07
  57.   my condolences to this paratrooper`s family 12:19  |  Alon Fisher 19/09/07
  58.   #56, Dabadabadoo - Reply 12:32  |  Anton 19/09/07
  59.   If I have to chose who to believe, I chose the IDF 12:33  |  Maven 19/09/07
  60.   26Natalie D. I hope you meant a Wall inside israel,and the 67 12:34  |  lakshmi 19/09/07
  61.   # 36 Kohn 12:46  |  Natallie Durson 19/09/07
  62.   Sick people 12:46  |  Lynn 19/09/07
  63.   Lakshmi # 60 12:55  |  ChanahS 19/09/07
  64.   Keep dreaming lakshmi, we keep doing what is deemed 12:56  |  Maven 19/09/07
  65.   63chanah s.&64 maven,first of all chanah s,I saw your 13:17  |  lakshmi 19/09/07
  66.   Lakshmi 65 13:42  |  ChanahS 19/09/07
  67.   # 23 C/FOOL 13:57  |  17 19/09/07
  68.   lakshmi"what will not change is justice" 13:58  |  harzion 19/09/07
  69.   The Green Line 14:00  |  Steve Katz 19/09/07
  70.   lakshmi "surely you do not want another roman defeat?" 14:18  |  yoni 19/09/07
  71.   Natalie vs Cipora re:collective punishment 14:21  |  The Equalizer 19/09/07
  72.   For Admirer # 38 14:29  |  Clickfool 19/09/07
  73.   natallie durson 14:33  |  lakshmi 19/09/07
  74.   #21 jake scratching his head 14:47  |  peter 19/09/07
  75.   Disable and unarmed 14:47  |  MA 19/09/07
  76.   CFOOL CONFUSED ? Abbas is the elected President 15:02  |  PETER SM 19/09/07
  77.   To: The Equalizer 15:19  |  Natallie Durson 19/09/07
  78.   ChanahS...you need to think clearly 15:49  |  Ibrahim 19/09/07
  79.   Anton, good questions...real answers 15:51  |  Ibrahim 19/09/07
  80.