Armed confrontations between invading Israeli troops and Palestinian militants reached its climax on Friday night, particularly in the West Bank towns of Nablus and Jenin, Palestinian witnesses and security sources said.
The sources said that at least 36 Palestinians, most of them from Jenin and Nablus, were killed by Israeli troops during Israeli army attempts to enter into Jenin refugee camp and the old city of Nablus.
Witnesses said that the fiercest gunbattles between Palestinian militants and Israeli troops took place at the entrance of the old city of Nablus, known as "Al Qasaba", and the Jenin refugee camp.
They said that the Israeli troops are using Apache helicopters missiles and tanks shells in their attacks on the two Palestinian- controlled areas, adding that the Palestinians are using machine guns and explosives.
Sources in Jenin said that a Palestinian woman blew herself up in her house while dozens of Israeli troops were raiding her house in the Jenin refugee camp, adding that a number of Israeli soldiers were either killed or injured.
They said that the Israeli army brought helicopters to the area
and evacuated a number of soldier injured.
In the same refugee camp, a Palestinian militant, a member of Islamic Jihad, trapped his house with explosives and left, said the witnesses, adding that he blew his house off as soon as the Israeli troops raided his house.
Palestinian medical sources said that at least 18 Palestinians were killed in Jenin, among them six Hamas militants, two children and the rest were militants and civilians.
The sources also said that 13 Palestinians were killed in Nablus, four killed in Bethlehem and one was killed in Qalqilia in the West Bank, adding that it is hard to give exact figure on how many people were killed and injured.
(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2002)
