Israeli troops have raided a popular shopping centre in Nablus and Viable police, judiciary needed in West Bank ...
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The owners deny the claim and Nablus's governor was quoted as saying the orders would not be obeyed.

On Monday, Israeli troops forcibly shut down the offices of a Palestinian charity in the northern West Bank town.

Hamas dominates Gaza but is suppressed in the West Bank. Israel and its allies view it as a terrorist organisation.

There have been frequent raids on allegedly Hamas-funded organisations in the Hebron, Qalqilya and Ramallah areas of the West Bank and the Israeli army recently said it would crack down on Nablus.

Denial

Troops seized the five-storey shopping centre and ordered its 70 shop owners to vacate the premises by 15 August.

"I don't know where to go now," a cafeteria and coffee shop owner told journalists.

Israel said the owners of the mall, Beit al-Mal, were supporters of Hamas and worked on its behalf.

Board members denied the allegations, saying it was a public company with more than 4,000 shareholders and no links to politics or Hamas.

"We will not recognise the illegal measures taken by the army. We will not obey its orders," said Nablus governor Jamal Muheisen.

In another development, Israel has lifted the curfew imposed last week on the Palestinian town of Nilin west of Ramallah.

The town has been the scene of protests against Israel's West Bank barrier.

Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 war. It has settled hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the West Bank and keeps a large military presence there.

Mortar fire

In Gaza, Israel said it had agreed to an Egyptian request to re-open border crossings with the Gaza Strip.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak agreed the move in response to a special request from Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, officials said.

Israel had earlier said crossings would be closed after Palestinian mortar fire on Monday.

The crossings have been sealed off a number of times since a fragile truce between Palestinian militants and Israel came into effect last month.

A Hamas delegation is currently having talks in Egypt to discuss the truce.

Israel pulled settlers and troops out of Gaza in 2005, but it has kept control of the strip's border crossings, territorial waters and airspace. Israel stages frequent raids into Gaza and militants have stepped up rocket fire into Israel since 2005.

(BBC)

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