West Bank Curfew Clashes

Israeli troops and armored vehicles pulled out of central Bethlehem on Monday morning and residents started returning to the streets — though the army insisted there had been no formal withdrawal, and soldiers and their armored vehicles remained nearby, gathering at a building that was under construction on the edge of town.

Meanwhile, Israeli troops shot dead an 8-year-old Palestinian boy in Nablus on Monday as hundreds of youths ignored a curfew and left their homes to attend school and throw stones at soldiers, Palestinian witnesses and hospital officials said.

The children gathered in the center of the city, hurling stones at an army jeep, witnesses said. The soldiers opened fire, killing Jihad Faqeh, an 8-year-old boy, hospital officials said. Witnesses said he had been standing in a side alley. The Israeli army said it was checking the report.

Hundreds of other residents of the largest West Bank commercial center ventured out onto the streets, violating the curfew, to buy goods to prepare the evening meal that breaks the daylong fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

Observant Muslims don't eat, drink, smoke or have sex during daylight hours throughout Ramadan. Large dinners just after sundown are the norm, though the Israeli military presence in most West Bank towns, accompanied by a curfew that keeps shops closed, has made it difficult for many families to prepare the meals.

Israeli troops rolled into Bethlehem early Friday in response to a Palestinian suicide attack in nearby Jerusalem that killed 11 bus passengers a day earlier. The bomber came from Bethlehem.

Residents said they saw armored vehicles leave Bethlehem early Monday for the nearby village of Beit Sahour. Believing the army had pulled back, they went out onto the streets to buy essentials, such as bread and milk. Vendors opened their vegetable stands and life slowly began to return to normal.

But then border patrol officers in jeeps drove into the town, checking identification cards and sending residents back home. An army spokesman said there had been no formal pullout, and a contingent of troops parked their armored vehicles in a lot near a nine-story building on the edge of Bethlehem.

Throughout the West Bank, the Israeli army often pulls back to the outskirts of Palestinian areas, prepared to immediately return if it deems necessary.

Israeli armored vehicles, which had been surrounding the Church of the Nativity — built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born — were gone Monday. Christians were not permitted to attend church services Sunday.

The army has said it would like to leave Bethlehem before Christmas, when the town holds large celebrations in more peaceful times. But the army said it intends to first arrest all the suspected militants on its wanted list. More than 30 suspects have been arrested since Friday.

In other news, the army said it prevented a suicide attack Saturday when troops arrested two Hamas bombers near Nablus in the West Bank. Computers packed with explosives were found in the taxi the two were riding in, the army said. The computers were blown up in a controlled explosion.