Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., February 14, 2008 Adar1 8, 5768 | | Israel Time: 23:17 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Advertising
Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad (Alex Levac)
Last update - 00:33 06/01/2008
IDF withdraws from Nablus after 3-day operation in W. Bank city
By Reuters and Haaretz Service
Tags: Salam Fayyad, PA, IDF, Israel

Israel Defense Forces soldiers withdrew from Nablus on Saturday evening, ending a three-day hunt for militants in which dozens of Palestinians were wounded and 20 arrested.

In the course of the operation, the IDF discovered a large weapons lab that contained shrapnel pellets, explosive substances, and explosive belt, and other bomb-making material. The lab was destroyed in a controlled manner by IDF sappers.

The Palestinian sources said that the troops primarily operated in the Old City of Nablus, where schools were closed on Saturday and male residents were forbidden from leaving.
Advertisement
Six Palestinians were arrested on Saturday, and a total of 20 were detained since the raid began early Thursday, mostly from Fatah.

The wanted men were transferred to the Shin Bet security service for questioning in order to determine the level of their involvement in terrorism.

The most senior militant detained was Fatah member Ra'ad Ratrut, who was arrested Thursday evening along with his deputy. Two guns were found in his possession.

An IDF officer said the operation was conducted in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, in order to avoid friction with PA security forces operating in the city.

The PA told its security officers, who were recently deployed in the city in a bid backed by Israel to build up Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' forces, not to walk the streets in uniform or with weapons.

The raids began early Thursday when hundreds of IDF troops flooded Nablus, conducting house-to-house searches in what the army considers to be the terror capital of teh West Bank.

The move triggered a confrontation with stone-throwing youths in which at least 24 people were lightly injured.

Troops discovered Thursday evening two rockets that were in the process of being assembled. The rockets, which resemble the Qassam rocket that has plagued communities along the Gaza Strip for years, already had fins and rods that were apparently intended to function as a launcher.

According to the army, the Civil Administration is assisting the Palestinian civilian population by distributing food and medicine, as well as repairing essential infrastructure damaged in the fighting.

A senior Palestinian source told Al-Ayam, a Palestinian paper, that Israel launched the raid in order to evade its obligations under the road map for peace, by insisting that the Palestinians are not doing enough to stop terror. The sources said the move was designed to deflect criticism from U.S. President George W. Bush, who is set to arrive in the region on Wednesday.

Palestinian PM lambasts Israel over West Bank arrest raids

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad criticized Israel on Friday for mounting a major military sweep in Nablus, saying such intervention was ruining a Western-backed internal Palestinian security plan.

"These operations destroy our efforts in the field of security, which started bearing fruits lately in a way that people felt the change," Fayyad said in a statement.

The exercise constituted the biggest since Palestinian police were deployed in the West Bank city as part of a bid by President Mahmoud Abbas to build diplomatic ties with Israel by showing he can rein in militants.

Fayyad masterminded the security plan with Western help after the Abbas government lost control of Gaza to Islamist Hamas in June. He said Israel's actions in Nablus and elsewhere had "a tremendous negative impact on efforts being exerted, including at international level, to revive the peace process."

The rebuke looked likely to add to a mood of recrimination which has muddied Israeli-Palestinian peace talks relaunched at an international conference in Annapolis, Marlyland in November.

U.S. President George W. Bush is due to visit the region next week to discuss the points of dispute with Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Olmert said on Sunday there would be no easing of Israel's security measures in the West Bank, which include hundreds of roadblocks that impede Palestinian movement, until Abbas's forces prove effective against militants.

Palestinian authorities say the deployment of their police in Nablus and two other West Bank cities, Tul Karm and Bethlehem, has brought calm, with suspects arrested and weapons seized.

Two off-duty IDF soldiers were killed in a West Bank ambush last week which Olmert's office blamed on members of Abbas's security services. The Palestinians denied that charge and said they had made two arrests.

Related articles:
  • IDF troops kill two Hamas militants in northern Gaza
  • PA forces uncover Hamas explosives lab in Nablus
  • IDF uncovers two rockets in process of assembly in Nablus
  • PA security forces restore public order in turbulent Nablus
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    'We lost a great leader'
    Dignitaries honor the only Holocaust survivor to serve in the U.S. Congress.
    Deadly incursion
    A mentally disabled Palestinian dies of wounds sustained in a West Bank IDF arrest raid.
      1.   How Dare You Arrest The Terrorists We`re Protecting ! 13:54  |  Straight Talk 04/01/08
      2.   Who is the Prime and who is the Sub 13:56  |  El-birawi 04/01/08
      3.   But somebody should mind the house... 14:13  |  Buzaglow 04/01/08
      4.   What Fayyad Says vs. What he wamts 14:16  |  dyinglikeflies 04/01/08
      5.   Israel will not take the lead in peace talks 14:19  |  Natallie Durson 04/01/08
      6.   Have Pals done anything to positively impact peace process? 14:22  |  Sam 04/01/08
      7.   The first of all human rights, Mr. Fayad, is the right to life, 14:42  |  Avihu 04/01/08
      8.   Fayyad and his cohorts are Terrorists 14:53  |  Brod 04/01/08
      9.   a blow to the peace process 14:56  |  Leon Rosgarten 04/01/08
      10.   You collaborator you! Talking from both sides of your mouth! 14:57  |  lakshmi 04/01/08
      11.   Solution! 14:59  |  Levi 04/01/08
      12.   Israel is one big Double Standard 15:18  |  POP 04/01/08
      13.   Just think of how peaceful the WB would be without the IDF 15:30  |  POP 04/01/08
      14.   Myopic Israel does not, or will not recognize path to peace 15:44  |  Ivar 04/01/08
      15.   west bank raids 15:51  |  marcel 04/01/08
      16.   Finding the "right balance" is key to success 15:52  |  Swiss (Dino) 04/01/08
      17.   Isreal needs more `negatively impact` raids 15:53  |  dav zee 04/01/08
      18.   Note to Bush: Curb your dogs 16:02  |  Natallie Durson 04/01/08
      19.   nablus 16:08  |  b 04/01/08
      20.   negative impacts 16:22  |  Jacob 04/01/08
      21.   A stab in the back? 16:27  |  Tosefta 04/01/08
      22.   ButPalestinian rockets dont??? 16:29  |  joe 04/01/08
      23.   Swiss...from the munitions they found 16:29  |  Lynn 04/01/08
      24.   to # 8 - because the IDF has its own agenda 16:49  |  SD 04/01/08
      25.   "A western backed plan" 16:53  |  Roger Bannister 04/01/08
      26.   THE REST OF THE STORY 16:53  |  NEIL GOLAN 04/01/08
      27.   To idiotic #3: Path to peace 16:54  |  Frank 04/01/08
      28.   To #7: Peace partners 16:55  |  Frank 04/01/08
      29.   West bank raids 16:56  |  rm 04/01/08
      30.   To #3 comprehensive peace with all of its neighbours 17:02  |  Levi 04/01/08
      31.   How Stupid Do TheyThink We Jews Are? 17:10  |  Dave Levy 04/01/08
      32.   #2 ,YOUR ARE. POP 17:13  |  NEIL GOLAN 04/01/08
      33.   Its unfair that they can fire kassams + katyushas 17:14  |  eddie 04/01/08
      34.   IDF UNDERMINES TERROR ACTIONS 17:14  |  Iskander 04/01/08
      35.   Fayyad and his terrorists 17:21  |  Brod 04/01/08
      36.   to #7 Like the PA policemen 17:24  |  Levi 04/01/08
      37.   IVAR ESTONIA 17:36  |  NEIL GOLAN 04/01/08
      38.   What Salam Fayad says is only what he has to say 17:42  |  Shlomo from Tel-Aviv 04/01/08
      39.   #1,2,and 3...get you heads out of your asses 17:44  |  DR 04/01/08
      40.   #8 b. The answer is in your question.! 17:52  |  Stephen. 04/01/08
      41.   How ungrateful 18:11  |  KUTW 04/01/08
      42.   "Pal security plan" 18:14  |  KUTW 04/01/08
      43.   IDF must pull out of West Bank and secure Judea and Samaria 18:15  |  Boris 04/01/08
      44.   IDF must pull out of West Bank and secure Judea and Samaria 18:15  |  Boris 04/01/08
      45.   POP is one pompous Israel-basher who does not believe 18:24  |  Marwan مروان خوري 04/01/08
      46.   Meaning that the PA Police were the terrorists again 18:26  |  Gee 04/01/08
      47.   Creating the next "Non Partner in Peace" 18:30  |  Labhras 04/01/08
      48.   #2 without IDF you mean without Israel? If by that you mean 18:31  |  Marwan مروان خوري 04/01/08
      49.   #11 eddie errs 18:35  |  Boycott 04/01/08
      50.   #14 Levi 18:37  |  Boycott 04/01/08
      51.   Can you read Natallie? 18:43  |  leo 04/01/08
      52.   acting against our own quislings 18:49  |  Israeli 04/01/08
      53.   A stab in the back? 18:49  |  Tosefta 04/01/08
      54.   #2 POP you fool 19:01  |  * BEN JABO 04/01/08
      55.   palestinian security services 19:06  |  real vision 04/01/08
      56.   IDF in Nablus & Blackwater in Baghdad 19:07  |  Mark of Lewiston 04/01/08
      57.   IDF in Nablus & Blackwater in Baghdad - 2 19:19  |  Mark of Lewiston 04/01/08
      58.   Brod - Do You Hate Universally? 19:24  |  Mark of Lewiston 04/01/08
      59.   # 2 - POP 19:25  |  MichaelF 04/01/08
      60.   What a hypocrite! 19:27  |  MichaelF 04/01/08
      61.   #21 - Boris 19:29  |  MichaelF 04/01/08
      62.   16 Shlomo from Tel-Aviv 19:34  |  Mark of Lewiston 04/01/08
      63.   With respect, i recall they said are enable to keep it secure 19:45  |  Simon Mohammed 04/01/08
      64.   IDF would not have to go in if PA did its job 20:14  |  Marwan مروان خوري 04/01/08
      65.   The U.S. probably ordered the raid.! 20:17  |  Stephen. 04/01/08
      66.   Pop #1,2 20:26  |  Jon 04/01/08
      67.   A stab in the back? 20:47  |  Tosefta 04/01/08
      68.   Haaretz a Jewish disgrace. 21:06  |  Angry Jew 04/01/08
      69.   Israel security 21:09  |  Gregor