TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Israeli soldiers reportedly shot and killed a Palestinian in Nablus one day after the body of a slain Israeli was found near Bethlehem.
The incident in the West Bank town of Nablus occurred on the second day of large-scale searches after militants and explosives. Nablus has traditionally been a hotbed of Palestinian nationalism and the Haaretz newspaper said that the Shabak security services has been concerned over the enhanced quality of explosives prepared there and militants heightened readiness to attack.
The commander of the Israeli troops in the West Bank, Brig. Gen. Yair Golan, said 117 Nablus residents were arrested last year on suspicion of volunteering to be suicide bombers and a military spokesman said that nine of the 11 explosive belts found in the past six months originated in Nablus.
Soldiers of four infantry battalions are participating in the searches that according to the army have exposed a laboratory, anti-tank rockets and other weapons.
There were conflicting reports as to how Anan Al-Tibe was killed. The Haaretz newspaper said he was shot while walking with his son, breaking a curfew. His son was wounded. Maan news said he was shot in his home.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat criticized the operation saying it would "undermine the efforts that are being made to sustain the ceasefire with Israel," Al Jazeera reported.
Sunday night Palestinians found the body of an Israeli, Erez Levanon, in a wooded riverbed near his home in the settlement of Bat Ayin. Levanon belonged to group that engaged in mysticism, religious zeal and joy that often sought solitude near a well where he was repeatedly stabbed.
Soldiers searched a neighboring Palestinian village and arrested two teenagers, Maan reported.
