Dozens of Israeli soldiers carried out an operation in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, witnesses and Palestinian officials said on August 27, while the Red Crescent reported at least seven injuries during the operation.
The Israeli army confirmed to AFP that its forces were carrying out an operation in the northern West Bank city, but did not give details of its purpose. The operation began at 03:00 local time, residents said, with soldiers in armored vehicles storming several neighborhoods in the old city of Nablus, which has a population of about 30,000. The operation comes a day after Israeli forces in Ramallah, home to the Palestinian Authority, raided a currency exchange office in the city center, wounding dozens of Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas told AFP that “Wednesday’s attack… is simply a show of force without any justification.” A witness said soldiers had evicted a couple from their home. Clashes were also reported in the eastern part of the Old City, where youths threw stones at Israeli forces, who reportedly responded with live ammunition and tear gas.
The Red Crescent said its teams treated five people wounded by rubber bullets, while another was wounded by gunfire.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh, through a statement, condemned "the Israeli escalation in cities and refugee camps," calling the latest operations "dangerous and unacceptable."
The Old City of Nablus has been the focus of several major Israeli operations, including those in 2022 and 2023 during large-scale operations against a local group of armed fighters, as well as in 2002 during the second Palestinian intifada – or uprising. In early June 2025, an Israeli military operation in Nablus resulted in the killing of two Palestinians. Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, violence has increased significantly in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank have killed at least 972 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian Authority figures.
During the same period, at least 36 Israelis, both civilians and members of the security forces, have been killed in attacks or during military operations in the territory, according to Israeli figures./REL
