Special report: Crisis between Israel and Palestine

    JERUSALEM, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Israeli security forces had uncovered a West Bank militant cell manufacturing explosive belts with liquid material, which cannot be detected by metal detectors, Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday.

    The Nablus-based militant cell was activated by the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in the Gaza Strip to manufacture the belts and to launch suicide attacks in Israel, the report quoted Israel Defense Forces (IDF) source as saying.

    Earlier in July, a Palestinian would-be suicide bomber, carrying such explosive belt, was seized in Jerusalem after he was stopped for a routine ID check.

    During interrogation by Israel's security agency Shin Bet, the man confessed that he was recruited by a military group to carryout a terror attack. It was revealed that the group was affiliated with the PRC in Gaza Strip.

    Another explosive belt was discovered in the Palestinian National Security building in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The IDF reported that both belts contained unusually large amount of liquid explosives, and had they been detonated it would have had disastrous consequences.

    Meanwhile, IDF troops operating in a refugee camp near Nablus early Thursday killed a 25-year-old Palestinian.

    The IDF said an initial inquiry into the incident found that the soldiers had identified and shot an armed Islamic Jihad operative. However, the man's relatives said that he was unarmed and standing on the porch of his home when he was shot twice and killed.

    In addition, IDF soldiers arrested 19 Palestinian fugitives in operations throughout the West Bank overnight Wednesday, including two from Hamas, two from Islamic Jihad and one from Tanzim.