By Xinhua
Ramallah : Israeli forces on Thursday stormed West Bank city of Nablus using more than 70 tanks and armored vehicles, witnesses and Israeli sources said.
Israeli sources said the soldiers opened fire at a Palestinian militant and wounded him in the Old City district. Later, the soldiers stormed Rafidia hospital and surrounded other hospitals in search for the wounded gunman.
The sources added that four people were arrested in the operation which has been going on since dawn. The army imposed curfew on the Old City.
Palestinian medical sources, meanwhile, said a 43-year-old journal distributor was injured with a robber gunshot at his waist.
The large-scale incursion comes two days after Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, and his army’s chief of staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, visited the army basis near the city and examined the Israeli army procedures there.
Nablus Mayor Jamal Muhaissen said the Israeli operation was meant to “strike the security plan” which the Palestinian forces implement to crack down on trouble makers.
“This operation is unjustifiable,” Muhaissen told reporters. He reminded that the armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement stopped its activities in the city in response to a decision by Abbas.
Meanwhile, the Israeli sources say that 27 Palestinians were arrested in West Bank cities of Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron.
The sources say the detainees were wanted by the state of Israel.