Israeli tanks enter Nablus

A force of more than 100 Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles has moved into Nablus, the West Bank's biggest city, witnesses said.
The advance came after Israel consolidated its hold of the Palestinian areas it had seized early on Wednesday - Jenin and Salfit.

In Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers are still surrounding the Church of the Nativity, where more than 100 Palestinian police and militiamen have taken refuge.

I was speaking with a Carmelite nun this morning and she told me that there is a tank in her garden

The BBC's Caroline Hawley, in Jerusalem, says that mounting international criticism is falling on deaf Israeli ears and officials seem determined to press on with what they call a "war on terror".

Until nightfall on Wednesday, Nablus had been the only major West Bank city not to have been reoccupied.

As Israeli tanks that had encircled the town all day began to move in, witnesses reported hearing gunfire and explosions.

One woman was killed by a blast that shook the city, Palestinian sources said.