RAMALLAH, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Four Palestinians were injured on Wednesday during clashes with the Israeli army, who also arrested 40 others in the West Bank, according to Palestinian sources.
Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that Israeli forces stormed the city of Nablus and raided the old city, triggering violent clashes with Palestinian youths.
The sources said Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas at the youths, who responded by throwing stones and empty bottles.
In a press statement, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Ministry of Health said that four people suffering from gunshot wounds, one of them with a serious chest injury, were sent to Rafidia Governmental Hospital in Nablus.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said that Israeli forces launched a widespread campaign of arrests and field interrogations across the West Bank on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, detaining 40 people, including a child and former prisoners.
The arrests and interrogations were concentrated in the cities of Salfit, Jenin, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarm, and Hebron, according to the organization.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on these incidents.
The West Bank has witnessed an escalation in attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property.
The total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers in 2025 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has risen to 232, including 52 children, according to an update released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Dec. 11.
In 2025, OCHA has documented over 1,700 settler attacks that resulted in casualties or property damage in more than 270 communities across the West Bank, the UN update said. ■
