Israel presses raid into northern West Bank city
Israel expanded a massive military operation in the northern West Bank city of Nablus yesterday and placed the city centre under curfew, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.
"The 70,000 people who live in the city centre and the neighbourhoods around it have been placed under a curfew," a Palestinian security official told AFP.
"At least four Palestinians have been wounded by rubber bullets on Saturday and 35 have been arrested since Thursday," the official added.
An Israeli army spokesman confirmed that a curfew had been imposed, saying it was to protect civilians living in the crowded ancient quarter of the city. However he said only 19 people had been arrested so far.
On Thursday dozens of Israeli army jeeps rolled in, aiming to arrest wanted militants in a city where the Palestinian Authority has recently deployed hundreds of forces as part of an ambitious security crackdown.
Meanwhile Palestinian security forces detained at least 33 Hamas members across the West Bank, the Islamist movement said in a statement on Saturday.
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