Israeli forces wound four Palestinians during violent raid on Nablus

Four Palestinians were wounded during a violent Israeli raid on the old town of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Monday.

According to Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, the four were wounded by live bullets as a confrontation erupted during the raid.

They agency added that Israeli forces detained a man named Adham Khashana during the raid.

Israel conducts raids regularly across the occupied West Bank, which since 7 October has seen at least 635 Palestinians killed, including 147 children, by Israeli security forces and illegal Israeli settlers.

Since the start of the war on Gaza, there has been a marked uptick in raids across the West Bank, with Palestinian prisoner groups stating over 10,000 people have been arrested since October. 

The Palestinian Health Ministry in the occupied West Bank also said that at least 5,400 people have been wounded since 7 October.

The latest injuries of Palestinians by Israeli security forces come following Thursday’s pogrom perpetrated by Israeli settlers in the village of Jit, east of Nablus.

The pogrom, in which Israeli settlers burnt cars and homes, saw the killing of one Palestinian and the wounding of several others by live fire.

Several Israeli political leaders, including President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, condemned the attack.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also condemned the attack whilst attempting to distance the perpetrators from Israeli settlers in the West Bank, of which he is one.

Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law, with its occupation of the West Bank deemed illegal and apartheid under a verdict given by the International Court of Justice in July.

Rights groups including Amnesty International have raised alarm over Israel’s increased attacks and arrests on the occupied territory since October.

Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch also said Israeli security forces have “unlawfully used lethal force in fatal shootings of Palestinians in the West Bank”.

"These killings are taking place at a level without recent precedent in an environment in which Israeli forces have no need to fear that their government will hold them accountable," Richard Weir, the senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch said in a statement.