Israeli occupation forces assassinated a young man on Thursday during their raid into Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, according to security sources, and detained his body.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported the killing of the young man Mahmoud Ibrahim Sanaqra (25 years old) by the occupation forces’ bullets in Balata camp.
The director of the Red Crescent Emergency and Ambulance Center in Nablus, Amid Ahmad, said that the ambulance crews transferred a young man (32 years old) injured by the Israeli occupation forces’ bullets in the thigh area, while a child (14 years old) was injured in the hand and abdomen, and an elderly man (68 years old) suffered bruises after the occupation soldiers attacked him.
The Wafa news agency reported that the Israeli occupation forces stormed Balata camp, amid heavy gunfire, after discovering special forces in the “Maqdousha” neighborhood, amid the arrival of reinforcements from the Awarta checkpoint.
Also in the Nablus area on Thursday, a young man was shot by Israeli occupation forces before being abducted in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus.
A Wafa news correspondent reported that the Israeli occupation forces stormed the town and surrounded a house, while gunfire was heard in the area and military reinforcements arrived.
According to Wafa, the occupation forces shot the young man Ibrahim Hassan in the besieged house, before abducting him and taking him to an unknown destination. His current medical condition is unknown.
Badawiya Al-Samri, a reporter with Wafa news agency, wrote the following report on the impact of the over month long siege on Nablus:
Nablus Governorate, like other governorates in the northern West Bank, is witnessing a siege and closure of all its entrances as part of the collective punishment policies imposed by the Israeli occupation state on citizens, which has led to a significant decline in all economic sectors in the governorate.
“Nablus, the economic capital of Palestine,” is no longer crowded with visitors and shoppers because of the siege, says merchant Majdi Halawa from Nablus.
He added that the city’s markets are suffering from weak purchasing activity and a decline in the movement of shoppers, especially from outside the district.
According to the testimonies of some merchants in the city, there has been a significant decline in purchasing power in the markets, at a time when the occupation authorities have engaged in a war of extermination against our people in Gaza, and their crimes in the West Bank have escalated, as have their repeated incursions, their destruction of infrastructure and citizens’ property, in addition to the closures and the increase in the number of military checkpoints. With the beginning of this year, the situation has worsened.
According to the head of the Nablus Business Forum, Abdul Raouf Hawash, the city of Nablus depends on several resources for its economy: the first of which is the citizens coming to it from the countryside, but due to the spread of checkpoints between the city and its countryside, citizens’ visits have declined, in addition to the fact that a number of establishments have closed their doors in the city, to open in the Palestinian countryside .
He pointed out that the irregularity of public sector salaries and their low percentage, due to the occupation’s withholding of clearance funds, had a significant impact on the decline in consumption and, consequently, on the economy.
He said that the decline in visits by citizens coming from the territories of 1948 to the city also led to the deterioration of its economy, as the city used to receive 35 buses and 1,200 private vehicles on Saturdays, but during the past month it did not exceed three buses and 200 vehicles of visitors.
Hawash pointed out that the economic sector witnessed a significant decline between December of last year and January of this year .
He said that checks deposited into banks in Nablus amounted to about $197 million in December 2024, while they decreased to about $138 million last month, a decrease of 30%.
He pointed out that the volume of petroleum consumption decreased by 40% between December of last year and January of this year, due to the spread of barriers surrounding the city, and citizens’ reluctance to use their vehicles and their tendency to use public transportation .
He pointed out that the clothing and accessories sector declined by 70% between the two months, furniture by 50%, and food supplies by 30%. Sales at the “Hisbah” market for selling vegetables and fruits also declined by 60%, and the vehicle repair and accessories sector declined by 50%.
He pointed out that the tourism and restaurant sector has been in decline since the war on the Gaza Strip began .
In turn, Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas said, “The governorate is suffering from a tight siege that undermines aspects of life and hinders the movement of citizens to and from the city, due to the spread of Israeli checkpoints around it, between it and the villages, and the roads linking to other cities, and the closure of a number of roads with earthen barriers and iron gates.”
He added in a statement to “Wafa” that the occupation forces set up 10 permanent checkpoints around the city of Nablus, while installing 36 iron gates at the entrances to the city and the surrounding villages, and closed 47 sites with earthen mounds.
Douglas pointed out that the siege led to the deterioration of the economic and social conditions in the city, as the percentage of revenues for many sectors decreased, some of which fell by more than 50%, and poverty and unemployment rates increased .
Studies indicate that in 2020, the Palestinian economy recorded a historic contraction of 11.5%, the deepest since the occupation invaded the West Bank in 2002, then recovered in the following year 2021, recording growth of about 7%, then the decline resumed with the start of the war on Gaza again, and it is deteriorating further with the tightening of measures at checkpoints at the beginning of this year .
The Minister of National Economy, Muhammad Al-Amour, described the year 2024 as the worst for the Palestinian economy, as it contracted by 28%, as a result of the slowdown in economic activity, the reduction in the value of business in private companies, in addition to the decline in Palestinian exports and imports by 13 % .
