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RAMALLAH, March 12 (Saba) -- Israeli troops, hunting for a young Palestinian who killed five settlers with a knife, arrested 17 suspcted activists in the village of Awarta near the West Bank town of Nablus on Saturday, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

The troops are pursuing execution of raids and wide-scale search targeting the houses in the small village, witnesses told KUNA.

Meanwhile, a shadowy group calling itself "Imad Mughnieh Group" claimed responsibility for the daring attack that occured at dawn, when a lone Palestinian brandishing a sharp knife sneaked into the Jews' settlement of Itamar, located near Nablus, made his way into a house and stabbed five members of a single family to death.

The group that claimed the responsibility for the attack was not well known. But Imad Mughnieh was a leading of Hezbollah, who had been assassinated in Damascus, Syria. Hezbollah had vowed to take revenge for his death.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned according to excerpts broadcast by Israel radio that Israel would avenge the bold attack against the settlers.

Shortly after the deadly incident, Israeli military forces encircled the West Bank town of Nablus. Witnesses told KUNA a large number of troops were deployed and roadblocks were rapidly erected around the town, barring Palestinians from venturing out or into the town.

Several roadblocks that had been dismantled were set up anew around Nablus, they said.

They indicated the Israeli military forces were on full alert in the Nablus region, holding motorists at the checkpoints around the ancient town. In Awarta, the troops stormed houses, searching for a Palestinian, in his 20th, believed to have carried out the early attack on the settlers.

The Israeli Army carried out the extraordinary measures in the Nablus region shortly after the lone Palestinian sneaked into the nearby Jewish settlement of Itamar, attacked a family of five members killing them all.

Israel Radio said the Palestinian, armed with knives, stabbed the five members of the family, the parents and three children, to death after he infiltrated into the outpost and sneaked into the family house.

The attacker fled and the Israeli Army carried out a wide-scale search for him, firing blares over nearby regions.

The attack followed identical recent violence pitting Palestinian activists against Jewish settlers.

Saba