Dozens injured as Israeli forces raid Nablus in occupied West Bank

At least 80 people are wounded, including several shot with live ammunition, medical sources say.

Dozens of people have been injured in an Israeli military raid on the Palestinian city of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, according to medical sources.

At least 80 people were wounded, including several who were hit with live ammunition, during the raid that began early on Wednesday, medical sources told media.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society told media that its teams treated 36 people, including some who suffered tear gas inhalation.

The raid began about 3am (00:00 GMT), residents said, with soldiers storming several neighbourhoods of the Old City of Nablus, which has a population of 30,000 people.

Israel’s military deployed snipers and military vehicles, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Footage from the town, verified by media’s fact-checking agency Sanad, showed Israeli forces firing tear gas canisters to disperse the protesters while other videos documented young people throwing stones at military vehicles and soldiers during chase-and-run operations, which included the arrest of a child.

Soldiers were “storming and searching houses and shops inside the Old City while some houses have been turned into military posts”, said Ghassan Hamdan, head of the Palestinian Medical Relief organisation in Nablus.

“The governor of Nablus, Ghassan Dhaglas, told me he thinks as many as 2,000 Israeli soldiers have been involved in this operation. He described it as a show of force ‘with no justification’.”

“There have been some arrests,” he said.

“The Israeli military is not sharing details about the operation. They say they will release details once it is finished,” he added.

The West Bank has seen a surge in Israeli military and settler violence since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, and tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced out of their homes.

At least 982 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers across the territory since October 2023, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Old City of Nablus has been the focus of several major Israeli raids. In early June, the Israeli army carried out an operation there in which at least two Palestinians were killed.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army launched a prolonged raid on Ramallah and el-Bireh, also in the West Bank, with the Palestine Red Crescent Society reporting that at least 58 Palestinians were wounded, including at least one child.