NABLUS - Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinian militants in a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus yesterday and Israeli tanks and troops began withdrawing from nearby Tulkarm a day after taking it over.
The army said it killed four men - all of whom belonged to the Islamic militant group Hamas - in the raid, which raised the specter of a new spiral of violence that has all but wrecked U.S.-led peace efforts.
Troops backed by a tank and several armored vehicles stormed a 10-storey apartment building, moving from room-to-room in search of militants, witnesses said. The army said four soldiers were slightly hurt in the shooting.
Five explosions were heard inside and one apartment was badly charred, with broken furniture, pieces of wood and shattered glass scattered left across the floor. Bodies were found in a basement entrance, in a bathroom and in a living room.
The army said the raid was retaliation for a Palestinian attack which killed six people at a party in the Israeli town of Hadera last week. It said its troops discovered a bomb laboratory and arrested nine suspected militants.
"To all appearances the terrorists planned to carry out attacks in the near future," the army said. It originally put the death toll at five but later revised it to four.
Israel's retaliation for the Hadera attack also included sending troops to Tulkarm in the northern West Bank Monday in a raid which it called a strike against a "large terror infrastructure" but which was condemned by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The Israeli forces started pulling out of Tulkarm early on Tuesday, abandoning houses taken over in a 30-hour raid.
Palestinian witnesses said there were still Israeli forces in two locations under Palestinian control, and the army said its forces would continue to encircle the city.
"They are preparing the ground for the resumption of full occupation," Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said. "(Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon is playing with a huge, huge fire."
"Deploying the tanks around Tulkarm means that they can enter (again) at any minute," he said.
- REUTERS
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Israel kills four Palestinians in raid
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