IDF troops break through house walls in Balata refugee camp

IDF troops and tanks entered the West Bank city of Nablus and the nearby refugee camp of Balata on Friday morning, with soldiers going from house to house in the Balata camp by breaking through connecting walls.

The IDF said the troops were looking for Palestinian suspects and weapons and that the passage through houses was intended to avoid Palestinian fire on soldiers in the camp's narrow streets.

IDF also entered Qalqilyah early Friday morning but pulled out of the West Bank city several hours later and blockaded it.

In the Gaza Strip IDF troops exchanged fire with Palestinians and arrested suspected militants in the Gush Katif area, among them suspects of planning a terror attack on one of the Gush Katif settlements.