According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, three Palestinians were killed during the operation in central Nablus, during which fire was exchanged between Palestinian activists and Israeli forces.
The Israeli army has reported two Palestinian deaths: Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, a senior official of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement, and another fighter.
The body of Ibrahim al-Nabulsi was transported by a dozen armed men to the Rafidia hospital in Nablus, where hundreds of Palestinians gathered.
The Israeli security services (police, army and internal intelligence) said they carried out a raid against a residence where Ibrahim al-Nabulsi was staying, suspected by Israel of being involved in a series of anti-Israeli attacks.
Israeli police reported the use of a rocket to target the residence.
“Violent clashes took place with rioters who threw stones and explosives at the (Israeli) forces who responded by opening fire. There were several wounded (Palestinians). The forces left the city and there are no injuries in our ranks,” the army said in a statement.
An AFP photographer on site reported intense fighting in the old city of Nablus, the main city in the northern West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 40 Palestinians were also injured, four of whom are in critical condition, in clashes related to the Israeli operation.
The raid in Nablus came two days after the end of a deadly Israeli military operation launched against the Palestinian armed movement Islamic Jihad, based in the Gaza Strip.
According to a report by Hamas in power in Gaza, 46 Palestinians were killed, including many children, and several hundred were injured in three days of Israeli bombardment. The raids also caused significant destruction.
Two main Islamic Jihad military leaders in Gaza, Khaled Mansour and Tayssir Al-Jabari, were killed in the Israeli strikes. The military wing of Islamic Jihad confirmed the deaths of 12 of its fighters in the operation.
In response to aerial bombardments and artillery fire during the Israeli operation presented as a preventive measure against Islamic Jihad, the latter fired a thousand rockets towards Israel, the vast majority having been intercepted according to the Israeli army .
Rockets fired from Gaza left three injured in Israel, according to local relief.
A truce between the Islamic Jihad and Israel, favored by Egypt, came into force on Sunday evening, which allowed Monday the reopening of the crossings between the Jewish state and the Gaza Strip, an enclave under Israeli blockade for more than 15 years old.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said the bombings in Gaza had “dealed a devastating blow to the enemy”.
He then spoke on the phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi to express his “appreciation” and his “very important role in preserving regional stability”, according to a press release from Mr. Lapid’s services.
According to Islamic Jihad, the truce agreement provides, among other things, “Egypt’s commitment to work for the release of two prisoners” of the group in the hands of Israel, in particular Bassem al-Saadi, whose arrest on August 1 in the West Bank preceded the Israeli operation against Gaza.
