UPDATE 2 – Israeli army withdraws from West Bank’s Nablus after raid, injuring 38 Palestinians

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, REVISES HEADLINE

By Qais Omar Darwesh Omar and Rania Abu Shamala, Betul Yilmaz

RAMALLAH, Palestine/ISTANBUL (AA) – The Israeli army withdrew from the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday evening following a 14-hour raid that injured 38 Palestinians, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that 29 people suffered from tear gas inhalation during clashes in Nablus, three were injured by live fire and shrapnel, and six others by rubber-coated bullets.

Witnesses said clashes erupted between dozens of Palestinians and Israeli army forces around the Old City of Nablus, where youths pelted the army with stones, which responded with live fire, rubber-coated bullets, and tear gas canisters to disperse protesters.

According to witnesses, military reinforcements were deployed in and around the city, with troops forcing several families to evacuate their homes and turning them into military posts.

Israeli forces also began conducting house-to-house searches in multiple neighborhoods across Nablus.

The state news agency Wafa said several Palestinians were assaulted and beaten by Israeli army forces in Sebastia, northwest of Nablus, during the raid.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army withdrew from the central West Bank city of Ramallah after an hours-long raid that left 58 Palestinians injured and three others detained, according to medical sources.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and 7,000 injured in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal. It demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.