During early morning clashes with the Israeli soldiers, 28 year old Ahmed Abu Sharkh was killed in Nablus’ Qisaria neighborhood; his assistant Amjad Naifa was seriously injured in the ensued battle. Six members of Fateh and the Islamic Jihad were arrested in Nablus and the Balata refugee camp.Abu Sharkh is a leader of the Al-Quds Brigades, the militant wing of Islamic Jihad.
Dr. Ghassan Hamdan, head of the Medical Relief in Nablus said that that Abu Sharkh suffered serious wounds, adding that his fellow fighters took him from the ambulance to an unknown location in an attempt to prevent the soldiers from abducting him.
Eyewitness reported that a large military unit from the Israeli army invaded Nablus, surrounded the Asalah Al Kabeer mosque and occupied a Palestinian home.
Gun battle ensued between the army and a members of the Al-Quds Brigades present at the surrounded home.
A paramedic at the scene of the confrontation reported that the soldiers prevented ambulances from entering the area and declared it a closed military zone, barring paramedics from treating those injured in the attack.
Local sources reported that an Israeli helicopter was patrolling the skies above the Nablus neighborhood while the army was operating there.
Meanwhile, in Nablus’ Balata refugee camp, troops resumed the large military operation for the second day.
In several attacks on Sunday, Israeli troops, backed by armored military vehicles and jeeps, invaded the Balata Refugee Camp near Nablus, killing two Palestinian children in clashes which erupted there following the invasion; five others were arrested and at least 31 residents were injured.
Sheikh Adnan Asfour, a member of Hamas from the West Bank, condemned the Nablus operation which claimed the lives of three Palestinians and has injured at least thirty others.
Asfour demanded the international community pressure the Israeli government to end its attacks against Palestinians, instead of asking Hamas to disarm and recognize the State of Israel.
Meanwhile, in the Askar and Balata refugee camps in Nablus, Israeli soldiers broke into dozens of homes after invading the two camps and searched them.
Six members of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad were arrested earlier on Monday in Nablus and Balata refugee camp.
Local source reported that five of the arrestees were arrested in Balata refugee camp; the five were identified as Ahmad Hosney, 26, Wael Mashy, 25, both members of the Al Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of Fateh, and Ahmad Marshoush, 28, Qassem Zibin, 32, and Ziad Al Meeny, 27, all are members of the Islamic Jihad.
In the city of Nablus, soldiers surrounded the house of Mohammad Abu Awad, 32, in the center of the city, and arrested him after searching his house.
An Israeli military source claimed that all of the arrestees are prominent members of the resistance, and that soldiers managed to locate weapons and ammunition during the ongoing operations in Nablus area.
