The peace process in the Middle-East once again came under a serious beating when early on Sunday the Israeli Army in one of the biggest military operations, in the recent past, put the West Bank city of Nablus under curfew.

The Israeli raid was provoked by the detection of a second explosives laboratory in Nablus, including pipe bombs, explosive materials and a hand-held Lau guided missile and launcher. Israeli troops have exposed nine explosive labs, six of them only in Nablus, in the West Bank since early 2006.

Israeli forces carried out door-to-door investigation in search of some most wanted militants and to counter ‘terrorist threats’ in Nablus.

All the educational institutes in the city remain closed and called studies off due to the curfew. Life in Nablus, including the medical facilities, remain affected. Hafiz Shahine, the deputy mayor of the city, said,

We are suffering, Nablus is suffering, from this closure. The shops are closed and streets and blocked in the Old City, no-one can get out of their homes. Nablus has been under seige for six years.

Nablus is among the largest cities in the West Bank, and possibly a center for Palestinian militants as well, which thus is frequently intruded and thwarted by the Israeli troops.

The Palestinian Authority has severely condemned the armed incursion of Israeli forces and reckoned it as a severe blow to the peace process and relations between Palestinian and Israel. Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian negotiator and adviser to the Palestinian president, said,

We condemn this military incursion. This will undermine the efforts that are being made to sustain the cease-fire with Israel.

Many Palestinians protesting against the curfew threw stones, chunks of cement, fired weapons and barrels at Israeli troops. Nablus is one of the cities, where opposition to the Israeli troops is most ferocious, in the West Bank. Israeli army spokesman said,

There were brief exchanges of fire and our forces also used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse Palestinian demonstrators who had thrown rocks at them.

Alleging Israel with the impish intention to undermine the efforts of Palestinian government to keep the peace process going and build unity among the two rival factions Hamas and Fatah, Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led government, said,

We question why these military campaigns are increasing now. This indicates the Israeli government is trying to turn what was agreed upon in Mecca into a failure.

Nowadays, people have resisted themselves to visit Nablus , owing to the frequent conflicts that further leads to curfew by the Israeli forces, for getting in and out through the numerous barriers around the city would dissuade even the most resolute.

Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian president, denouncing the latest move by the Israeli troops or government said,

This aggression by the Israeli occupation government is like cutting the road forward after all our efforts to find peace.

Meanwhile, the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations, members of quartet in Middle East peace negotiations, have mutually demand the new Palestinian government to recognize the existence right of Israel and acknowledge earlier Israeli-Palestinian agreements, if they want to be eligible for direct financial support.

Source 58415