On 20 February the IWPS (International Women’s Peace Service) reported:
“There is only one ambulance left inside the camp. It will bring wounded only to the edge of the camp, out of fear of not being allowed back in. Wounded individuals are carried on stretchers to the entrance of the camp and transported to Nablus hospitals. Normal ambulance traffic has come to a complete halt.”
“In the morning an ambulance carrying an injured person and a woman in complicated labor was ambushed by two jeeps. The jeeps drove into the ambulance from both sides and shot at it. The soldiers forced the ambulance to stand still for half an hour to use it as a shield against youth throwing stones at them.”
The Palestine News Agency reported on 21 February:
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) banned Tuesday the access of ambulances into the West Bank(WB) city of Nablus to evacuate a citizen, witnesses said.
In a phone call, they told WAFA that Israeli soldiers barred the access of paramedics to reach a house belongs to Jameel at-Tirawi to evacuate an unconscious citizen.
In the meantime, Israeli soldiers halt the access of the rudimentary services, babies milk and medicine, to Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus.
And today:
NABLUS, February 23, 2006 (WAFA) – Death toll in Nablus City raised to five after three more citizens were killed by Israeli troops, security sources said.
The sources revealed that Israeli troops random shooting killed three citizens while storming a house in Balata Refugee Camp.
Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers prevented ambulances from entering into the area.
Politically, Presidency Spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rdeineh, condemned the killing by Israel of five citizens in Nablus and its Refugee Camp of Balata.
He described the operation as an escalation which aims at terminating the efforts exerted to maintain the calm, calling on the Quartet, specially the US Administration, to immediately intervene this military escalation which will only lead to more tension.
The BBC reports today:
Eight Palestinians have now been killed in the biggest incursion in the West Bank since the 25 January election.
On Sunday, witnesses said two teenage boys from Nablus were shot dead by the Israeli army while throwing stones at Israeli vehicles.
The army said they shot the teenagers while they were planting explosives.
[…]
Witnesses quoted by AFP news agency said Israeli troops also opened fire on Palestinian rescue workers, wounding an ambulance driver and a nurse. The army said it was investigating.
Hamas, the militant group which the parliamentary election strongly condemned the Israeli incursion.
“We urge the international community to live up to its responsibilities and stop this massacre instead of asking our people to stop resisting,” said spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri in Gaza.
The two teenagers were killed for throwing stones at an armoured vehicle like this one:
