Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian and injured 31 others on Wednesday morning during clashes near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, said medics and eyewitnesses. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a press statement that Mohammed Assaf, a 34-year-old lawyer, was killed after he had been shot in the chest, while 31 others were injured, including 11 by live ammunition. Eyewitnesses said that Israeli army forces stormed Nablus and three villages around the city to arrest Palestinians, who are wanted by the Israeli security forces, as fierce clashes broke out with dozens of Palestinian protestors. Also Read: Hamas, Fatah reject Israeli threats to storm Palestinian cities in northern West Bank Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society affirmed that 17 were injured by Israeli soldiers, including 11 by live ammunition and six by rubber bullets, while dozens suffered suffocation after inhaling teargas fired by the soldiers. The eyewitnesses said that the clashes came as Israeli soldiers conducted arrest raids and secured the restoration of a shrine in Nablus after it was vandalized twice by Palestinians in recent days. There has been no immediate Israeli army comment on the incidents in Nablus. However, Palestinian security sources said that the Israeli army conducts daily raids in cities, towns, and villages in the West Bank to arrest Palestinian activists. Tension between Israel and the Palestinians has been flaring in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the past three weeks. Also Read: Palestinian PM calls on int'l community to stop Israeli attacks against Palestinians On Monday, Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned that the Israeli escalation measures in the Palestinian territories would push the matters to "an uncontrollable situation."    

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah Party on Friday rejected the Israeli threats to storm Palestinian cities and towns in the northern West Bank. The two groups' rejection came after the Chief of General Staff of the Israeli army Aviv Kochavi gave instructions to intensify preventive measures in the northern West Bank and strengthen defense efforts in the seam area. In a statement, Osama al-Qawasmi, the Fatah spokesman in the West Bank, said, "Israel is totally mistaken if it thinks that the security iron fist is the solution," adding that the experiences have proven the failure of security solutions. Also Read: Israel-Palestine conflict: China calls for UN council action, slams US On Friday, Israeli media reports said that Kochavi gave the order to enhance the army's readiness on all fronts, mainly the Palestinian front, following the killing of two Israelis in a shooting attack in Tel Aviv in central Israel on Thursday. Hamas spokesman in Gaza Fawzi Barhoum said, "The Israeli threats to the cities of the northern West Bank, especially to Jenin city and its residents, will not break the will of the city's free youths to carry on their struggle." On Thursday night, Israeli media reported that at least two Israelis were killed and nine others were injured when a Palestinian gunman opened fire at a restaurant and pedestrians in the center of Tel Aviv in central Israel. Also Read: ‘Free Palestine’: Protesters in major US cities decry airstrikes over Gaza According to Israeli media, the assailant is a 28-year-old Palestinian man from the refugee camp of Jenin in the northern West Bank. He was reportedly killed in the old city of Jaffa nine hours after the attack.