At least six Palestinians have been killed and 21 wounded after Israeli forces raided several areas in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said.
Early Tuesday morning, large numbers of Israeli forces stormed the city of Nablus and were spotted by Palestinian security forces and armed fighters, according to a spokesperson for the Palestinian Fatah movement.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, five Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. One of those killed was unarmed, Palestinian health and security officials said.
Their names are: Ali Khaled Antar, 26; Mishal Baghdadi, 27; Wadee al-Hawah, 31; Hamdi Qayyem, 30; and Hamdi Mohamed Sharaf, 35.
The ministry later reported that another Palestinian youth, Qusay al-Tamimi, was killed during confrontations with Israeli forces in the village of Nabi Saleh near the city of Ramallah, home to the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank.
A spokesperson for the ministry told Al Jazeera that Tamimi was 19 years old.
The Israeli military said only that their forces were operating in Nablus but gave no further details.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is establishing “urgent contacts in order to stop this aggression against our people” in Nablus, his spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement.
“All of this will have dangerous and destructive consequences,” Abu Rudeineh said on Palestine TV.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that the Israeli army prevented its medical crews from entering the al-Qaryoun neighbourhood to evacuate the injured.
Palestinian sources said Israeli snipers were positioned on the rooftops of houses and buildings overlooking Nablus’ city centre and used drones to fire missiles.
In a later development, Israeli forces bombed a civilian vehicle in the Ras al-Ain area, which resulted in the death of a Palestinian whose charred body arrived at Rafidia Hospital.
Armed confrontations were continuing in and around the Old City of Nablus in the north of the occupied West Bank, said Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah.
