Israeli border police man a checkpoint during an Israeli raid in the Askar camp for Palestinian refugees east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. AFP
Imad Zaki, head of the popular services committee of Balata camp, near the northern city of Nablus, told AFP that the Israeli military began its raid at 4:00 am (0100 GMT) on Wednesday.
"They closed all entrances to the camp, seized several homes after evicting their residents, and ordered the homeowners not to return for 72 hours. These homes were turned into military outposts and interrogation centres," Zaki said.
"The soldiers are conducting house-to-house and neighbourhood-to-neighbourhood searches, destroying the contents of homes and physically assaulting the residents," Zaki told AFP.
He added that life had been "largely paralysed" for the camp's residents.
The Israeli military told AFP that at "around 4:00 am Israeli forces entered Balata camp",
It added that the troops had been deployed to the nearby Askar camp prior to the operation in Balata camp.
In a separate statement, the military said that its forces had killed one Palestinian overnight in the West Bank village of Al-Walaja near Jerusalem.
It claimed that as the troops were deployed in the area, a Palestinian armed with a knife "attempted to stab Israeli soldiers who were operating in the area and steal their weapons".
The Israeli military said Tuesday that its forces had been active in various parts of the Jenin area, in the northern West Bank.
It said in a statement that its forces had arrested five Palestinians.
Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 939 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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