Israeli forces entered the West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus on Thursday to hunt for Islamic militants, Palestinian witnesses and Israeli military sources said.

Israeli army tanks line up in the outskirts of the West Bank town of Ramallah Wednesday Aug. 20, 2003. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved a series of pinpointed military strikes, some of which could begin Wednesday evening after a suicide bomber killed 20 people and injured scores in downtown Jerusalem Tuesday. [AP]

The army did not comment but the military sources said the raids were regular operations to arrest militants behind attacks against Israelis and were not specifically prompted by a suicide bombing that killed 18 people in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

Witnesses in Jenin said tanks and armored vehicles entered the city in the northern West Bank from four directions during the night. They said they heard gunfire and explosions but there were no reports of clashes or casualties.

A witness in Nablus, also in the northern West Bank, said Israeli forces had entered the western part of the city but gave no details.

The army considers both cities to be strongholds of militant groups spearheading a nearly three-year-old uprising for an independent Palestinian state.

"These operations are nothing out of the ordinary," one military source said.

Israeli security sources said earlier on Thursday Israel had approved military steps to be taken against militant groups if the Palestinian government did not immediately crack down on them.

The decision followed Tuesday's suicide bombing on a crowded Israeli bus, one of the deadliest since the Palestinians rose up against Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in September 2000.

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