WEST BANK: Israeli forces withdraw from Nablus after major arrest raid.

Three days after a raid it launched to arrest suspected militants, the Israeli army has withdrawn most of its forces from the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The Israeli army has withdrawn most of its forces from the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinians said on Tuesday (February 27) after an arrest raid which it launched on Saturday (February 24), Palestinian security forces said. Israeli jeeps drove out of the city before dawn, leaving behind damage to shops and houses. The Israeli army declined comment on the reported withdrawal, a spokeswoman said she could not give details on the status of troops in the area. During the raid residents said troops had called by loudhailer for the surrender of four named militants from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and two from Islamic Jihad. Islamic Jihad carried out a suicide bombing that killed three Israelis in January and has not committed to a Gaza truce which most militant groups agreed in November. Al-Aqsa martyrs Brigades is part of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party. Mahdi Akoub, on Israel's wanted list, described the raid on his house. "The Israeli army entered my apartment three, four days ago and they destroyed my apartment and left me a note: 'surrender yourself or we will take your family and mother'," he said. Local residents said troops could no longer be seen in the centre of the city and that schools had reopened after they were shut for the previous two days. Residents took to the streets to examine the damage left behind from the biggest raid Israel has mounted in the occupied West Bank for months. The army had put some 30,000 residents of Nablus, which it sees as a militant stronghold, under curfew as soldiers searched for gunmen. The Mayor of the northern West Bank city joined residents in their clean up of the city's streets and shops. "They completely occupied the Old City and its surroundings. As you can see, they destroyed a lot of the infrastructure and they damaged many of the old buildings (in Nablus's Old City). In the Old City, any damage to a house or any work that is done affects all the surrounding houses", said Mayor Adli Yaish. During the operation the army also took over several radio frequencies, drowning out local stations to broadcast to residents the names of wanted militants. Forces also took over a television station, arresting its director and confiscating machinery. "Yesterday the Israeli army came in at 3 o'clock in the morning and they forced us outside and detained us for over an hour. Afterwards they let us return to the office and it was clear from the first moment that Nader was arrested or detained. Afterwards they held us up in the studio near this room and then discovered that there are computers and machines in this room and they noticed it was a television station," explained Ra'eda Briek, the wife of the television station director. An army spokesman said on Tuesday that troops had arrested five men but that they were not necessarily those on list of six who asked to give themselves up. Israeli raids in the West Bank are common. The army said that it had arrested nine militants in the territory on Tuesday.

ITN Source | February 27, 2007

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