Some 50,000 people are under curfew in the Palestinian city of Nablus after Israeli forces sealed off the city and searched houses in the largest military operation in the West Bank in months.
The raid began early yesterday morning, when about armoured vehicles and bulldozers entered the city.
There are reports that Israeli military bulldozers erected huge piles of rubble to block off key roads and prevent the movement of the Palestinian population.
The operation is focusing on Nablus' Old City, or casbah, a densely populated area of narrow alleyways, apartment buildings and markets.
The military took over local TV and radio stations and ordered people to remain indoors, warning the operation would remain in effect for several days, residents said. The army claimed the road closures and curfew were necessary to avoid civilian casualties.
Soldiers then moved from house to house in search of suspects. At one point, a Palestinian boy was forced at gunpoint to lead them into a home. Afterwards, the soldiers placed him, along with several young Palestinian men, into a military vehicle.
Palestinian officials have condemned the incursion saying it threatened peace efforts.
AP