Israeli army pulls out of Nablus without ending operation

Tuesday February 27, 2007 13:26 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli forces that invaded northern West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday morning left the city on Tuesday morning. No official statements regarding the status of the military offensive have been released by the Israeli army .

Palestinian man forced to strip by Israeli troops invading Nablus

Residents of Nablus woke up on Tuesday morning to see the tanks rolling out of their city after two days of a violent military operation, nicknamed by the Israeli army as "Hot Winter" or "Winter Heat".

The military offensive targeted the city center, the old city the nearby refugee camps. Hundreds of homes were attacked and families were forced outside while soldiers damaged belongings, eyewitnesses reported.

During the invasion the Israeli military besieged hospitals and attacked health clinics in the old city, the Palestinian medical relief services' clinic was one of those attacked. Dr. Ghassan Hamdan, the director of the PMRS in the city reported that the Israeli offensive left one civilian dead, at least 30 injured, and saw 150 abducted.

The Isaeli army stated that the military operation was aimed at targeting Resistance fighters, Palestinian sources in the city stated that none of the abductees are resistance fighters, all are civilians.

Residents of Nablus fear that the offensive is not over and that the city will be witnessing more military invasions in the coming few days.

Tanks and army bulldozers left the city but were deployed around it where all Palestinian civilians leaving or entering Nablus are forced to stand and wait, sometimes for hours, to be searched by the Israeli soldiers, local sources concluded.

nablus | israeli attacks | news report ghassanb at imemc dot org