Israel escalates operations in W. Bank, killing three

The Israeli army escalated its ground military operations in several West Bank cities on Thursday, killing three Palestinians, security sources and witnesses said.

Palestinian medics in the West Bank said that three Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops, two in the city of Nablus, and other one at an Israeli roadblock near Ramallah.

Security sources and witnesses said Israeli army forces, backed by jeeps and armored vehicles, escalated its ground military operations into the West Bank cities of Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Hebron and Bethlehem.

In Nablus, residents said that Israeli soldiers stormed several neighborhoods, mainly in the old city area, and also stormed two surrounding refugee camps.

Heavy clashes erupted between the soldiers and members of Al- Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, leaving two killed and another two wounded, one in critical conditions, they added.

Moreover, Palestinian medics in Ramallah said that Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian man at Qalandya checkpoint outside the city on the way up to Jerusalem on Thursday morning.

Witnesses said the man, whose identity was not immediately known, was taken to hospital.

Israeli Radio reported that tens of military vehicles stormed Nablus early at predawn, killing two Palestinian militants. A spokesman for the Israeli army told the Radio that his troops found a weapon cache in the city.

Meanwhile, Palestinian sources said that the Israeli army has arrested more than 30 people in the West Bank during raids that targeted several cities and villages.

Source: Xinhua