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Israel
Raids Palestinian City, Abducts Palestinian Activists
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Israeli
tanks opened fire on Palestinian security posts in Gaza City |
GAZA
CITY, Feb. 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli tanks and bulldozers
made a deep incursion into Palestinian-controlled territory in the northern Gaza
Strip on Sunday, opening fire on security positions but causing no damage, a
senior Palestinian security official said.
Four
tanks accompanied bulldozers two kilometers (1.2 miles) into Palestinian farming
land east of Jabaliya to the north of Gaza City. The tanks opened fire with
shells and heavy machineguns on Palestinian security posts in the area, which
were abandoned.
Israeli
occupation troops entered the Palestinian city of Nablus in the West Bank
earlier, and abducted three Palestinian brothers in a raid on a refugee camp on
the edge of Nablus.
The
Israeli military said its forces searched buildings and abducted "about
three" Palestinians before withdrawing two hours later. Sunday’s
abduction triggered a gun-battle, Israeli sources and witnesses said, AFP
reported.
The
army claimed the operation was aimed at preventing allegedly planned attacks by
Palestinians against Israelis.
Soldiers,
backed by 12 armored vehicles, entered the Askar camp at dawn, following a
drive-by shooting which killed an Israeli woman on Saturday. They arrested
Mohammed, Jamil and Khamis Bayram but missed their eldest brother, Rami, a
policeman who was also being sought.
Israeli
public radio said seven Palestinians were wounded in exchanges of fire during
the operation. Palestinian security officials said three Palestinian security
officers and three civilians were wounded in the armed clashes before the army
pulled out.
Palestinian
hospital officials said that a 45-year-old man, Fihmi Duwaikat, had suffered a
heart attack and died after firing erupted near his house.
Earlier,
Palestinian security sources and witnesses said three tanks and other armored
vehicles penetrated some 500 meters (540 yards) into the Palestinian town from
the northeastern edge.
The
occupation army had already blocked off all main access roads in and out of
Nablus, which they believe to be a center of resistance activity.
Meanwhile,
Israeli infantry units, backed by tanks, were still scouring the nearby West
Bank village of Tamoun for resistance activists connected to a gunman from the
Hamas group who killed a Jewish settler, her daughter and an Israeli soldier on
Wednesday before being shot dead.
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