OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, October 9 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Few hours after Israeli occupation forces pushed into the West Bank and detained 15 Palestinians, a Palestinian blew himself up Thursday, October 9, near an Israeli military checkpoint in Tulkarem, wounding two Israeli soldiers, one seriously.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Fatah, claimed responsibility for the bombing in a telephone call to Agence France-Presse (AFP) in the town of Jenin.

The group identified the bomber as Ahmed Safadi, an 18-year-old high school student from the village of Oref, south of Nablusm, reported Haaretz on its website.

Palestinian security sources said Israeli troops entered Tulkarem soon after the attack and slapped a curfew on the town.

Israel said on Wednesday, October 8, it was sending troop reinforcements into Palestinian areas and cleared the way for a call-up of army reservists.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz had decided to deploy the reinforcements from October 22 to the West Bank towns of Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilya and Ramallah as well as in the Gaza Strip, Israeli radio reported.

Observers said the Israeli restrictions trigger feelings of anger and frustration among the Palestinians, now suffering under continued closures and lacking basic services.

The Thursday bombing came after the Israeli army launched a new campaign in the West Bank, detaining 15 Palestinians, Al-Jazeera television reported, adding that seven of them are resistance activists.

The Gaza Strip is already divided by Israeli checkpoints into four sections and restrictions are tight in the West Bank.

Israel says such steps are needed for security reasons but are dismissed as collective punishment by human rights groups operating inside the occupied territories.

Also Thursday, a Palestinian teenager was killed in a mystery explosion in central Nablus in the northern West Bank, Palestinian medical and security sources said.

Shadi Samehna, 18, died in an explosion on wasteland behind the town's Al-Watani hospital, security sources said, as the cause of the blast remained unclear.

An Israeli army spokesman had no information about the explosion, claiming troops had not been operating inside the town since Wednesday.