Israeli troops raided houses in the West Bank today and arrested at least eight suspected militants, continuing their crackdown on a Palestinian uprising despite calls for calm from Washington.
The pre-dawn swoops centred on the city of Nablus and the men detained belonged to President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction and the militant Islamic group Hamas, the army and Palestinian witnesses said.
Witnesses said troops searched six houses whose occupants had already fled. Four soldiers were injured as they blew up the door of a wanted man's house in the city's Balata refugee camp.
The sweep came as Israel eased its hold on several West Bank cities, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon returned from Washington talks and a US envoy set off to the Middle East with a peace plan in pocket.
Washington, Israel's closest ally, is keen to see Israel ease its curfews and closures as it tries to rally Arab support for a possible war against Iraq.
The army suspended its curfew indefinitely in Jenin but tightened its closure around the city, a militant bastion like Nablus. Military sources said a troop presence in Hebron would also be scaled back ahead of talks on a potential withdrawal.
Restrictions on movement were also eased in Hebron, Tulkarm, Nablus and Qalqilya, the army said.
"From a strategic standpoint it is in our interest to show the locals that as soon as the terror stops we can withdraw. As in Jenin, it can also happen in Nablus," Deputy Defence Minister Mr Weizman Shiri told Israel Radio today.