NABLUS, West Bank, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - An eight-year-old Palestinian girl who was shot by Israeli forces at the weekend died of her injuries in a West Bank hospital on Monday, a Palestinian medical official said.

Zeina Fadi Hamad was seriously wounded when Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters clashed in the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem on Saturday.

The Israeli army has denied any involvement in Hamad's shooting, saying its troops did not operate in Tulkarem that day.

NABLUS, West Bank, Oct 20, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli forces detained five Palestinian militants, including a local Hamas commander, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday, Palestinian security officials said.

Those held include Khaled Darwazi, the local commander of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist movement, and four militants loyal to the secular Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

JENIN, West Bank, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli special forces shot dead a Palestinian security service agent during an overnight incursion into the flashpoint West Bank town of Jenin, Palestinian officials said on Thursday.

Israeli commandos dressed as Palestinians opened fire without warning at a vehicle in which Mohammed Abu Surur, 24, was travelling, Palestinian security officials said. He died on the spot, they said.

An Israeli military spokesman said that forces went to Jenin to arrest an armed Palestinian and 'opened fire on him because he put up resistance'.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli soldiers captured Wednesday night a leader of the Islamist movement Hamas in the West Bank during an incursion in Bethlehem, a Palestinian security official said.

The Hamas leader, Adel Jarawish, was arrested without a shot being fired after his house was surrounded by Israeli forces, and another member of the group was also detained, said the official.

An Israeli army source confirmed the arrest, saying Jarawish was suspected of involvement in a series of anti-Israeli attacks.

NABLUS, West Bank, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli forces killed a gunman from a group linked to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's party during a series of shootings and arrests in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, officials said.

Palestinian security officials said Omar Ainabussi, 22, from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is loosely affiliated to Fatah, was killed during clashes with the Israelis in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

A local chief of the same armed faction was wounded, they added.

NABLUS, West Bank, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli soldiers killed a gunman from a group linked to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's political party in overnight clashes in the occupied West Bank, officials said on Wednesday.

Palestinian security officials said Omar Ainabussi, 22, from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades loosely affiliated with Fatah, was killed during exchanges of fire in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

A local chief in the same armed faction was also wounded, they added.

NABLUS, West Bank, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - A militant of the armed-wing of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement was killed and another wounded in a clash with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank overnight, Palestinian security service officials said.

Omar Ein Abussi, 22, a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, was killed in an exchange of gunfire in Nablus.

A local chief of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades was wounded in the clash, the sources added.

NABLUS, West Bank, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - A walk through the ancient streets of the West Bank City of Nablus offers a rare glimpse into the Asiatic opulence that once adorned cities across the caravan routes of the Middle East.

But what was once a major Palestinian tourist and commercial centre has since the outbreak of the intifada in 2000 wilted in the face of checkpoints and near-daily Israeli military incursions.

'They call this the economic capital of Palestine but these days it is the capital of the unemployed,' says Bilal Hamouda, a merchant in the ancient quarter.

JERUSALEM, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Hundreds of Israeli settlers and right-wing activists on Monday abandoned four of the five sites in the occupied West Bank where they aimed to establish new wildcat outposts, police said.

'They voluntarily evacuated four of the sites,' police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.

'We did not have to intervene. There is still a group of around 80 people near the Eilon Moreh colony near Nablus. They should also leave the area soon,' he said.

On Sunday hundreds of right-wingers had occupied five sites throughout the West Bank.

HALHUL, West Bank, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - Hundreds of Israeli settlers and right-wingers set up at four sites throughout the occupied West Bank on Sunday during a Jewish religious holiday, aiming to create new wildcat outposts.

Activists had announced last week their intention to set up five new outposts across the Palestinian territory in defiance of Israeli authorities, who had declared the sites closed military areas.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Palestinian security services on Wednesday uncovered a cache of explosives and rockets which they said belonged to Hamas in the West Bank town of Beit Jala, near Jerusalem.

In the cache seized from a building in the town were two rockets marked Qassam 1 and Qassam 2, the names of rockets made by the armed wing of Hamas, said an official with Palestinian intelligence, adding the projectiles were 'ready for launch.'

Also seized were explosive devices and material for making bombs, the official said.

AL-MUFAQARA, West Bank, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Mahmud Hamamda still lives in the cave his grandfather chiselled out of a rocky hillside in the remote hills of the southern West Bank more than 100 years ago.

But above ground Jewish settlements now huddle on nearby hills, his grazing land has become a special military zone, and Hamamda, a poor shepherd, has had to defy the Israeli occupation so he can remain in his underground home.

JERUSALEM, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Israel closed early Wednesday the border with the West Bank as a security measure for a Jewish religious holiday, a military spokesman said.

'Due to the Sukkot holiday we closed the border with the' West Bank, said the spokesman, adding it will be lifted following an evaluation of the security situation.

The border with the Gaza Strip, which Israel recently declared a 'hostile entity,' remains closed.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Palestinian police on Tuesday arrested an Israeli trying to sell 900 chickens reared by Jewish settlers and impounded the fowl in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Officers picked up the man and the chickens he was allegedly trying to sell in defiance of a local boycott on produce from Jewish settlements built on occupied Palestinian territory, security forces said.

JERUSALEM, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Jewish settlers and right-wing activists on Tuesday announced plans to erect five new illegal outposts across the occupied West Bank in defiance of Israeli authorities.

Thousands of activists were expected to take part in the event, scheduled for next Sunday, during the week-long Jewish holiday of the Feast of the Tabernacles, event organiser Nadia Matar told AFP.

Israeli police have not authorised the event, she said. Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld confirmed he had no knowledge of it.

NABLUS, West Bank, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - The Israeli army arrested more than 20 Palestinians overnight in operations across the occupied West Bank, officials on both sides said on Monday.

According to Palestinian security sources, 20 people were arrested around the northern city of Nablus -- where the Israeli army carried out an extensive operation last week netting 49 alleged militants.

JERUSALEM, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - Israel on Sunday authorised the deployment of 500 Palestinian police reinforcements to the restive West Bank town of Nablus, where it recently carried out a major military incursion.

'Defence Minister Ehud Barak has authorised the daytime deployment of 500 Palestinian police in Nablus, as requested by prime minister Salam Fayyad,' a spokesman for his ministry told AFP.

'If it's a success, this measure will be extended to other towns,' he said.

NABLUS, West Bank, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli special forces on Friday arrested a local Hamas commander in a West Bank refugee camp where the army concluded a four-day operation, sources on both sides said.

The Islamist movement said Israeli troops arrested Nihad Shkirat, 35, a senior official for the northern Nablus region.

A military official described him as the Hamas military commander in the Ein Beit Elma refugee camp and said he was connected to a local cell that was plotting an imminent suicide attack in Israel.

NABLUS, West Bank, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - The Israeli army said on Thursday that it had arrested 36 people in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank where the military has been pressing an operation for three days.

The military said among those detained were Haled Nuri, Yusuf Nadi and Mustafa Nuri who belong to radical Islamist movement Hamas and who confessed under questioning to intending to carry out 'terror attacks'.

One of them also confessed to intending to carry out a suicide bombing, the military said in a statement.

NABLUS, West Bank, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli forces arrested two suspected leaders of an armed group loosely linked to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's party as they pressed a West Bank incursion on Thursday, witnesses said.

Ibrahim Sahli and his brother Abu Iskandar, both described as local commanders in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, were picked up in a refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, the sources said.

The Israeli army told AFP it had arrested 36 people in the Ein Beit Elma camp since tanks and troops rolled into the area on Tuesday.

JERUSALEM, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Israel is to remove 24 barriers across the occupied West Bank in a bid to ease the hardships of Palestinians and boost president Mahmud Abbas, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak presented the plan during a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who arrived earlier in the day for a series of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to discuss efforts to revive the stalled peace process.

NABLUS, West Bank, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli soldiers on Wednesday killed a Palestinian as they pursued an operation against militants in the northern West Bank town of Nablus, officials on both sides said.

Mohammed Selim, 38, whom witnesses said was a civilian and handicapped in his legs and one hand, died on the balcony of his house in Ein Beit Elma refugee camp inside the city, Palestinian security sources said.

NABLUS, West Bank, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - An Israeli soldier and a teenage Palestinian militant were killed during a major Israeli incursion into a refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank on Tuesday, officials said.

Mohammad Rida Khaled, 17, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was shot dead during exchanges of fire with troops in Ein Beit Elma refugee camp in the town of Nablus, medics and witnesses said.

NABLUS, West Bank, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - An Israeli soldier and a teenage Palestinian militant were killed during a major Israeli incursion into a refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank on Tuesday, officials said.

Mohammad Rida Khaled, 17, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was shot dead during exchanges of fire with troops in Ein Beit Elma refugee camp in the town of Nablus, medics and witnesses said.

NABLUS, West Bank, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - An Israeli soldier and a teenage Palestinian militant were killed during a major incursion by the Israeli army in the northern West Bank town of Nablus on Tuesday, officials said.

Mohammad Rida Khaled, 17, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was shot dead during exchanges of fire with troops in the Ein Beit Elma refugee camp inside the town, medics and witnesses said.

NABLUS, West Bank, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - A teenage Palestinian militant was killed during a major incursion by the Israeli army in the northern West Bank town of Nablus on Tuesday, medics and witnesses said.

Mohammad Rida Khaled, 17, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was shot dead during exchanges of fire with troops in the Ein Beit Elma refugee camp inside the town, they said.

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian youth early Monday in Ramallah, Palestinian medical sources said.

Mohammed Jabarin,16, was hit by three bullets.

The Israeli army, questioned by AFP, said 'a unit on patrol in the town spotted an armed Palestinian and opened fire on him.'

The adolescent's death brings to 5,862 the number of people killed in Israeli-Palestinian violence since 2000, most of them Palestinians, according to an AFP toll.

JERUSALEM, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - The Israeli army said it had foiled a Palestinian attack late Sunday on an Israeli settlement in the north of the West Bank near the Palestinian city of Nablus.

'An armed terrorist tried Sunday evening to infiltrate into Shavei Shomron settlement,' a spokesman told AFP. 'Spotted by soldiers, he opened fire at them and the troops returned fire.'

The army was searching the area for the militant.

The operation was not immediately claimed by any armed group.

NABLUS, West Bank, Sept 16, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli fire killed two Palestinians in separate incidents in the West Bank on Sunday, including a militant, officials on both sides said.

Yussef al-Hafi, 21, was killed in the Balata refugee camp near the city of Nablus, Palestinian security sources said. He belonged to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group loosely linked with president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party.

'An IDF (Israel Defence Forces) force identified two armed Palestinians, the force fired at them and identified hitting them,' an army spokesman said.

NABLUS, West Bank, Sept 16, 2007 (AFP) - A Palestinian militant was killed in exchanges of fire with Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank on Sunday, officials on both sides said.

Yussef al-Hafi, 21, was killed in the Balata refugee camp near the city of Nablus, they said. He belonged to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group loosely linked with president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party.

'An IDF (Israel Defence Forces) force identified two armed Palestinians, the force fired at them and identified hitting them,' an army spokesman said.

JERUSALEM, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - Two Israelis were shot and lightly wounded in a drive-by shooting near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Friday during the Jewish new year holiday, the army said.

Palestinian gunmen opened fire from a vehicle, wounding the two Israelis driving in their own car near the settlement of Karnei Shomron, southwest of the city of Nablus, the army said.

Israeli soldiers were searching the area for the assailants, who fled.

JERUSALEM, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - The Israeli army said on Sunday it had detained a Palestinian youth armed with three explosive devices in the West Bank.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said he was held at a military checkpoint near Nablus, which is in the north of the Israeli-occupied territory.

Army radio reported that the devices were intended for use in a suicide bombing inside Israel.

Meanwhile Palestinian security sources said a member of the radical Islamic Jihad movement was detained by an Israeli unit in the Bethlehem area late on Sunday.

JERUSALEM, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Three Israeli soldiers were wounded early Wednesday during an operation when their jeep was blown up by an explosive device in the West Bank town of Nablus, a military spokesman said.

One of the soldiers was seriously hurt while the wounds of the two others were lighter.

During the operation the troops found a Palestinian bomb factory. The building was blown up and two activists were arrested, the spokesman said.

JERUSALEM, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - Unauthorised Israeli settlements in the West Bank are expanding, officials with the military administration in the occupied territory told a government commission on Sunday.

They made the statements during a meeting of an Israeli inter-ministerial committee that is supposed to oversee the dismantling of the wildcat settlements in the West Bank, media reported. No details were provided.

NABLUS , West Bank, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - A Palestinian militant in the Al- Aqsa Martyrs Brigades was shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank town of Nablus on Friday, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

Another activist from the same group was captured in Jericho, they said.

The militant was shot in the shoulder in the Old City of Nablus in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said a statement from the group, which is loosely affiliated to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party.

JENIN, West Bank, Aug 27, 2007 (AFP) - An Israeli soldier on Monday strayed into one of the most volatile cities in the occupied West Bank where he was picked up by Palestinian security and handed back safely, officials said.

'He entered Jenin by mistake and was evacuated by the Palestinian security forces in cooperation with the IDF,' an army spokeswoman said.

JENIN, West Bank, Aug 27, 2007 (AFP) - An Israeli soldier on Monday strayed into one of the most volatile cities in the occupied West Bank where he was picked up by Palestinian security and handed back safely, officials said.

'He entered Jenin by mistake and was evacuated by the Palestinian security forces in cooperation with the IDF,' an army spokeswoman said.

RAMALLAH , West Bank, Aug 25, 2007 (AFP) - Dozens of Palestinian journalists protested in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday against what they called aggression by the Islamist Hamas movement against their Gaza colleagues.

Demonstrators in the city centre brandished placards denouncing the politics of 'silencing voices.'

'We are protesting against violations of the freedom of the press by members of the Executive Force,' the Hamas paramilitary wing, a journalist with the Al-Ayam daily, Khalil Shahin, told AFP.