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Palestinians in Nablus Welcome IDF Curfew
(Ha'aretz) Amira Hass - Speaking off the record, residents in Nablus admit that they welcomed the curfew that IDF troops enforced in their city on Thursday. The curfew prevented, or at least delayed, a collapse of internal order and security in the large West Bank city which in recent months has been convulsed by a series of shooting sprees on the street perpetrated by gunmen whose aim is to intimidate the locals or to carve out turf for themselves. The state of siege and terror that grips the city, local residents emphasize, has not been caused by Israel's army: the problem is roaming, armed Palestinians who claim they belong to the Fatah movement. Most Nablus residents live in fear and are held captive by various armed groups. PA official representatives are helpless to do anything to help. In recent months, business proprietors and white-collar professionals have left Nablus and moved to Ramallah. On Thursday, city residents also asked the Israeli army to impose a curfew on Salam, a village east of Nablus - a feud between two families from the village led to the killing of one person followed by a series of violent reprisals (including the burning of 16 homes).