Residents of a crowded refugee camp outside of Nablus said they were running out of food and water on Thursday, as an Israeli army raid against Palestinian militants raged for a third day. The army is allowing food, medicine and ambulances into the Ein Bet Ilmeh camp, the Associated Press quoted military spokesman Zidki Mamman as saying. But with a tight curfew clamped on the camp since Tuesday, some of the 5,000 residents said they couldn't leave their homes to buy food. On Thursday, troops fired rubber-coated bullets to disperse a protest by residents calling for an end to the raid, residents said. Hospital officials said 14 people have been wounded by rubber bullets since Wednesday. Two Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed in the first two days of the fighting. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Thursday for a halt to the «invasion of Nablus and its refugee camps,» which he said was the most recent example of Israel's «policy of invasion.» Abbas spoke at a joint press conference with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
