Israeli troops have stormed a shopping centre in the West Bank and ordered it to close last night, in its latest move against businesses, schools, medical centres and orphanages it claims are linked to the militant Islamic group Hamas.
The overnight move was the latest in a widening crackdown on the militant Islamic group in the West Bank, even as Israel observes a cease-fire with the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. Israel kept a vital Gaza cargo crossing open though Palestinians fired three mortar shells at Israel yesterday, violating a three-week-old truce.
Hamas condemned the Nablus operation as "provocative." Palestinian witnesses said the troops surrounded the Nablus Mall after midnight, sealing the building and posting closure orders in shop windows.
The five-story mall is one of the most popular spots in Nablus, a city of 135,000 that serves as the West Bank's commercial center. It has about 70 shops, including clothing stores, wedding shops and a restaurant.
The order, signed by an Israeli general who oversees the West Bank, said the building will be closed on August 15th, giving shop owners more than a month to move their businesses.
"Anyone found in this centre after August 15th, will be considered as working on behalf of Hamas and puts himself and his properties in danger," the order said.
Meanwhile a Palestinian tried to ram a tractor into Israel's West Bank barrier today, police said, and 10 people were hurt in protests against a project branded illegal by the World Court four years ago.
The unidentified man drove up to a concrete barricade at Kalandia, a military checkpoint outside Ramallah, but turned back toward the Palestinian-ruled city after being confronted by border guards, Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.
"They used riot-dispersal means to make him leave the scene. I understand there were no damage or injuries," he said.
Palestinians say the barrier, a network of fences and walls that loop around Jewish settlements dotting the occupied West Bank, is a land grab that could deny them a contiguous and viable state. Israel calls the barrier a bulwark against suicide bombers and says it could be scrapped if there is peace.
In Nilin, a West Bank village that has seen weeks of demonstrations and Israeli military clampdowns as a section of the barrier goes up nearby, soldiers injured seven protestors during scuffles, witnesses and medical officials said.
Television footage showed the protestors clambering abroad a bulldozer and being accosted by the troops. Other soldiers threw stun and tear-gas grenades to disperse the crowd.
Three protestors were detained by the Israelis during the Nilin demonstrations, said Mayor Ayman Nafi.
The Israeli army last week cordoned off the village of 5,000 and imposed a curfew on it to try to stop Israeli and international activists from joining local residents in almost daily protests against the barrier.
In the northern part of the West Bank, three more protesters were hurt during similar confrontations against the barrier, medics said.