ABLUS, West Bank - The Israeli army withdrew its forces from the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday after a three-day hunt for Palestinian militants that led to five arrests and uncovered several weapons workshops. However, the army said the operation was not over.

Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli army vehicles during a military operation in the West Bank city of Nablus, Monday, Feb. 26, 2007. [AP]

The raid paralyzed life in Nablus, with an estimated 50,000 people confined to their homes as troops combed houses and alleys for wanted men. One Palestinian was killed in the raid, the largest military operation in the West Bank in months.

Nablus Mayor Adli Yaish said the Israeli forces had left by Tuesday morning and he called on residents to return to the streets.

"We have to continue living," Yaish said, urging students and teachers to attend school. Municipal workers had already begun cleaning the streets in the raid's aftermath, he said.

The army lifted the curfew over much of the city, but issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying operations in the Nablus area were continuing.

The raid was necessary, the army said, because most suicide bombers trying to enter Israel from the West Bank come from Nablus. Troops arrested five wanted militants and uncovered workshops used to manufacture explosive devices and bomb belts, as well as a studio where suicide bombers recorded their farewell statements, the army said.

"There is no doubt that as long as the operation continues, we will expose more weapons, bomb labs and various parts of the terrorist infrastructure of the terrorist groups in the city," Brig. Gen. Yaron Golan, the army chief in the West Bank, said in the statement.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the offensive would "undermine the efforts" by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to maintain a Gaza Strip cease-fire with Israel. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas condemned "the criminal Israeli assault on Nablus," saying it was designed to undermine Palestinian efforts to form a coalition government.

Despite fears the soldiers would return, the city had largely come back to life by mid-afternoon Tuesday. Schools reopened, streets were clogged with traffic and marketplaces were bustling with activity.

One Palestinian, Annan Tibi, 50, was killed in the operation. The army said he was killed Monday when troops fired at figures moving on the roof of a building where they had seen gunmen, and where they later found a weapon. Palestinians said he was unarmed and was shot from a passing jeep.