At least five Israel Defense Forces troops were wounded Thursday, including one seriously and three moderately, in clashes with Palestinian militants early Thursday during an arrest operation in the West Bank city of Nablus.

A large number of infantry soldiers entered Nablus' Old City and a local refugee camp a little after midnight on Thursday, in order to search for wanted militants, weapons and ammunition.

An IDF captain was moderately wounded by an explosive device activated by militants in the city. He was evacuated by helicopter to Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer for treatment.

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A second explosive device left one soldier seriously in a serious condition and at least four others wounded, two of them moderately. The four were evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva. According to the IDF, several other troops were very lightly wounded in the explosion, and treated at the scene.

Several wanted Palestinians were taken in for questioning. The operation in Nablus is ongoing, and soldiers are still encountering light arms fire and bombing attacks.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad slammed the operation. "We view this aggression as a way to undermine our efforts to provide security and end the chaos," he said Thursday at a conference in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, said the government is committed to working with Abbas, but would not risk the safety of its own citizens. "Israel will always fight terror, she said. We will go forward with full strength to strengthen Abbas, and full strength to stop the terror," she said.

At least 12 Palestinians were killed and two IDF soldiers lightly wounded Wednesday in two separate IDF operations in the Gaza Strip.

At least 10 of the Palestinians killed in the operations were militants. Roughly 40 Palestinians were wounded in the fighting, the heaviest between the IDF and Palestinians inside the Strip in months.

Earlier Wednesday, IDF troops and Border Police forces wounded three Islamic Jihad militants, one of them moderately, in the West Bank village of Burkin near Jenin, Israel Radio reported.

All three militants were taken to Haemek Hospital in Afula for treatment, and will be handed over to the Shin Bet security service for questioning once their condition improves.