Original article by Peoples Dispatch republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

The offensive is considered a major escalation as it took place in Ramallah, the political and administrative hub of the Palestinian Authority.

Daily raids carried out by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have for decades been routine for Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank. However, Ramallah city center has been relatively safe compared to other areas, largely since the second intifada ended in 2005.

This isn’t to say that such relative calm extends to the entire governorate of Ramallah and Al-Bireh; it applies exclusively to the few square kilometers surrounding the Palestinian Authority (PA) headquarters near the center of the city.

Although this particular part of the city was previously subjected to IOF raids, such offensives happened rarely, for a brief time and usually not during daytime.

In a major escalation, the IOF stormed Ramallah city center on Tuesday, August 26, at rush hour in the afternoon, shooting at passersby and a journalist’s vehicle. Eyewitnesses and media workers reported the use of live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, and gas canisters during the raid.

Those taking part in a sit-in to commemorate the National Day for the Recovery of the Bodies of Slain Palestinians, a day when families demand the return of their martyrs’ bodies, 700-1500 of which are reportedly held by Israel, were also suppressed by Israeli military personnel when they raided the area.

At least 58 Palestinians were wounded in the assault, which lasted for hours, including a 13-year-old boy, who sustained an injury to his abdomen.

The IOF also arrested three people from a money exchange shop, and confiscated around 1.5 million Israeli Shekel (USD 447,000), over allegations that the shop was transferring money to Hamas.

The IOF continues its military operations across the West Bank

On Wednesday, August 27, the IOF raided the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, and imposed a siege on its Old City.

Dozens of Palestinians were reported injured in the attack, which lasted 14 hours. Palestinian citizens also told Turkish news agency Anadolu that the IOF turned a number of houses in the city into military barracks.

The spokesperson for the Palestinian Presidency Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned and rejected the IOF’s intensified military operations in cities, villages, and refugee camps across the West Bank on Wednesday.

Abu Rudeineh called the latest Israeli military actions in the West Bank a “dangerous escalation”. He also held the Israeli government responsible for the escalating assaults of the IOF, and the terrorist acts of illegal Israeli settlers against the Palestinian people.

The Palestinian official warned Netanyahu’s government that continuing with these policies will lead the region to further tension and instability.

He also reiterated his call for the US administration to pressure Israel to stop these dangerous policies, which violate the resolutions of international legitimacy and international law, and to oblige it to end the war and other acts of aggression.