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Israelis kill Palestinian militant in Nablus raid

Posted on: Thursday, 14 July 2005, 01:48 CDT

By Nadia Sa'ad

NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed a Palestinian militant in a West Bank raid on Thursday, stepping up operations after a suicide bombing that shook Israel as it prepares to pull out from some occupied territory next month. Troops killed Mohammed al-Asi, a local commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Nablus, during an exchange of fire with Palestinian gunmen after surrounding a building and calling on militants inside to surrender, the army said.

"After several hours they identified one of the wanted men trying to escape. They called on him several times to stop and eventually opened fire," an army spokeswoman said.

Shortly afterwards, Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza fired two rockets into nearby Israel. No injuries were reported from what the militants said was a response to the Nablus incursion.

The violence dealt further blows to a faltering de facto ceasefire declared by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at a Feb. 8 summit.

The army resumed a security crackdown in the West Bank after an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber killed two teenage girls, two women and a soldier in the Israeli coastal town of Netanya on Tuesday.

It was the first such attack since February and another sign that Islamic Jihad, sworn to Israel's destruction, had opted out of a "calm" declared by militant groups at Abbas's behest.

A serious resurgence of violence could disrupt Israel's planned pullout from Gaza and part of the West Bank, its first evacuation of settlers from territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war and which Palestinians want for a state.

With around a month to go until evacuations begin, Israel sealed off all settlements in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday to pre-empt attempts by ultra-rightist Jews to block the pullout.

Enraging settlers, Sharon signed an order closing Gaza's 21 settlements to non-residents after ultranationalists announced plans for a march next week that could have brought an influx of thousands of protesters into the Jewish enclaves.

SCUFFLING AT BORDER CROSSING

As the indefinite entry ban took effect, cars and trucks quickly backed up at the main crossing point between Israel and Gush Katif, Gaza's largest settlement bloc. Israeli drivers, demanding to be let through, waved identity cards at police.

Overnight about 60 furious settlers used their cars to block the border point, tying down Israeli security forces. Scuffles erupted and it took police several hours to reopen the crossing.

Rightist opponents of Sharon's plan, which he has described as "disengagement" from conflict with the Palestinians, vowed to step up demonstrations in Israel against the pullout plan.

Polls show most Israelis favor the move. But rightists, many of whom claim a biblical birthright to Gaza and the occupied West Bank, say pulling out would reward Palestinian militants who have spearheaded attacks during an uprising.

Palestinians fear the plan will give them tiny, impoverished Gaza, while Israel strengthens its hold on much bigger West Bank settlements that house most of the 240,000 settlers. More than 3.6 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and Gaza.

Settler spokesman Eran Sternberg accused Sharon of "laying siege" to fellow Jews and said the Israeli leader had "hit rock bottom from a moral standpoint."

It said the "Restricted Entry Order," which requires permits for settlers' relatives and guests, was issued to prevent "the uncontrolled entry of extremist elements into the area and in light of efforts to organize a massive march in Gaza."

The closure will give about 8,500 settlers a taste of some of the military restrictions and bureaucracy endured by Palestinians living under occupation.

Rightist protests have included blockades of Israeli highways and planting of fake bombs in train and bus stations.

Source: REUTERS

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