Israeli army invades several West Bank areas and abducts seven civilians

Tuesday March 27, 2007 13:15

by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli army invaded several West Bank cities and towns, searched homes and abducted seven Palestinian civilians on Tuesday morning.

Palestinian sources reported that most of these abductions were made in the West Bank cities of Jenin Ramallah and Nablus.

In the meantime, in Hebron city in the southern part of the West Bank one man was abducted when troops attacked and searched homes in western side of the city. The man known as Mohamed Abu Najma, 30, a Palestinian Authority Security officer, was taken to unknown detention camp after troops surrounded and searched his house, his family reported, and added that during the house search Israeli troops totally destroyed the family's belongings and food supplies stored in the house.

In Tulkarem city, in the northern part of the West Bank, a Palestinian official was abducted by the Israeli forces today. Shikh Bilal Abu Safra, the vice director of the charity office in the Palestinian ministry of religious affairs and holy sites ( WAQF), was taken from his home in the city after troops suurounded the house and searched it, local sources reported.

Also on Tuesday morning Israeli soldiers installed several military checkpoints around the city of Tulkarem and stopped Palestinian civilian cars and searched them. Several nearby villages were also attacked by the Israeli army but no abductions were reported.

The town of Qabatiya, near Jenin city in the northern West Bank, was also the scene of an Israeli army invasion on Tuesday morning. Local sources reported that an undercover Israeli army force invaded the town in an attempt to locate and assassinate local resistance fighters. The undercover force clashed with a group of local resistance fighters from the Al Quds brigades, an offshoot of Islamic Jihad. The fighters managed to escape unharmed; army sources reported no injuries among their troops.

Shortly after the clashes a massive Israeli army force invaded Qabatiya, soldiers searched and ransacked scores of residents' houses claming that they were looking for what they call "Wanted Palestininians". Soldiers left the town after several hours, no abductions were reported.

Jenin city and Jenin refugee camp were attacked on Tuesday. Israeli forces invaded the city and the refugee camp and searched scores of houses. Local resistance fighter clashed with the invading troops; no injures were reported on either side.

The army left the city and the refugee camp shortly after the clashes and made no abductions, however local sources reported some damage to the searched homes.