The Israeli military on Wednesday launched an operation involving dozens of soldiers and armoured vehicles in the old city of Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank, witnesses and Palestinian officials said.
The Israeli military confirmed to AFP that it was conducting an operation, without specifying its purpose.
The raid began at around 3:00 am (2400 GMT), residents said, with soldiers storming several neighbourhoods of the old city, which has a population of around 30,000 people.
“The assault on Nablus is merely a show of force with no justification,” Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas told AFP.
One witness, who declined to give his name, reported that soldiers had expelled an elderly couple from their home.
Soldiers “are storming and searching houses and shops inside the old city, while some houses have been turned into military posts,” Ghassan Hamdan, head of the Palestinian Medical Relief organisation in Nablus, said.
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Daghlas, said the army had informed Palestinian authorities that the raid would continue until 4:00 pm (1300 GMT).
AFP footage showed Israeli forces and military vehicles deployed on the streets of the city.
Local sources said clashes broke out at the eastern entrance to the old city, where young people threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas and live ammunition.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported several injuries as a result, but none from gunfire.
The old city of Nablus has been the focus several major Israeli raids, including in 2022 and 2023 during large-scale operations targeting a local grouping of armed fighters, as well as in 2002 during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
In early June 2025, the Israeli army carried out an operation there in which at least two Palestinians were killed.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, violence has surged in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Israeli troops or settlers in the occupied West Bank have killed at least 972 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, since the beginning of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian Authority figures.
In the same period, at least 36 Israelis, both civilians and security forces, have been killed in attacks or during military operations in the territory, according to Israeli figures.
AFP