The Israeli army continued its campaign against charity organizations and civil institutions alleged to be Hamas-affiliated in Nablus for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday, despite local and international criticism.

Health and media associations were targeted, with Israeli forces closing the headquarters of Al-Afaq Television Station in Nablus, confiscating equipment.

Sajed Abu Salha the 21-year-old security guard at the building said that Israeli soldiers raided the building and its mosque at 1:00 am.

Palestinian security sources said that more than 50 Israeli military vehicles stormed the city in the early hours of Thursday morning, breaking into the Ar-Rahma clinic in Fesal Street and the At-Tadamon clinic in the Rafidya neighborhood, confiscating computers and medical equipment from the clinics.

Eyewitnesses said that Israeli forces also raided the headquarters of the Women's Associations in An-Najah Street west of the city, as well as a building where the Islamic Bank is located.

Meanwhile, also on Thursday morning, local sources said that Israeli forces confiscated three school buses belonging to the Islamic School and the Reyad As-Salehin School and the Wahat Al Eman school.

On Tuesday the Israeli army stormed the Nablus Mall, confiscating documents related to funding projects as well as computers and cameras.

The Nablus Mall has 50 shops and offices, including the Al-Itiman company, which has a capital of 4 million Jordanian Dinars (5.64 million US dollars). Israel says this company funds Hamas and 'encourages terrorism.' The head of the Mall administration Adli Yayish has been in Israeli custody for a year and a half, accused of being affiliated with Hamas.

The Israeli army commander in Nablus issued an order that anyone who now enters the Nablus Mall will be imprisoned for five years. The order will come into effect on August 15. However, the Mall was raided, again, last night and local merchants reported that the Israeli army informed them that the Mall was being closed immediately, thus rescinding an earlier order giving merchants until the 15th of August to vacate the building.

The Israeli army issued a statement transferring the ownership of the Nablus Mall to the Israeli authorities from August 15.

Nablus governor Dr Jamal Muheisen called on citizens not to abide by the Israeli closure of the mall and to reject all Israeli assertions that it is owned by Hamas. He said that 70 merchants and 4,000 Palestinian investors, from the Muslim, Christian and Samarian communities had business interests in the Nablus Mall.

He said that the attacks on Nablus aimed to strike at the Palestinian National Authority and its institutions to undermine their efforts to improve the security situation in Nablus.

Israel's legal authorities have recently approved such raids on Hamas-affiliated Islamic charities in the West Bank, in a bid to curb Hamas' rising popularity and in an effort to strengthen the Western-backed Palestinian Authority on the West Bank. Israeli Forces have been carrying out similar raids in the Hebron, Qalqilyah and Ramallah areas since the beginning of the year, but the legal sanction means the campaign will now be expanded to other parts of the West Bank.