June 3, 2002	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21,1423

NABLUS, June 2: Israeli troops arrested another 10 Palestinians overnight during their ongoing reoccupation of the West Bank city of Nablus, a military spokesman said Sunday.

“The 10 Palestinians arrested in Nablus were wanted for activities hostile to Israel,” the spokesman said, without providing further details.

The city of around 100,000 was still under Israeli control and curfew Sunday, as the army searched it and the neighbouring Balata refugee camp for a third straight day.

Palestinian witnesses said the city was invaded Friday by infantry units backed by around 50 tanks, armoured vehicles and personnel carriers with helicopter gunships providing cover from the air.

The army has been carrying out almost daily raids into Palestinian towns since it ended Operation Defensive Wall, the vast month-long West Bank sweep it launched on March 29.

Another army spokesman said troops had pulled out of two other West Bank cities, Qalqilya and Tulkarem, which were also raided on Friday.

Israeli public radio said the army had arrested a total of about 100 Palestinians during its three operations.

Four of those arrested in Nablus were female students from An-Najah university accused of being involved in a plan to launch more suicide attacks in the coming days, Israeli public radio said.

All four were members of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement and were arrested with three other Palestinians overnight in the Rafidyeh refugee camp near Nablus, the radio said.—AFP