Nine Palestinians, including an elderly man and several militants, have been killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank, witnesses and Palestinian health officials say.
Explosions and gunfire sounded as troops raided the heart of Nablus, triggering armed clashes with gunmen.
It is understood that heavy Israeli fire was directed at a house, killing two senior Palestinian militants inside.
The Israeli military earlier confirmed its troops were operating in Nablus.
Palestinian health officials say a 72-year-old civilian was among those killed outside a besieged house amid the gun battles.
Video footage showed a body in a street next to bags of bread in what is usually a busy market area of the old city.
More than 100 people were also wounded by gunfire, six of them seriously, according to health officials.
Nablus and nearby Jenin have been the focus of search, arrest, and intelligence-gathering raids that Israel has intensified over the last year amid a spate of deadly Palestinian attacks.
This latest one comes despite reports this week of an understanding brokered by the US aimed at calming tensions.
So far this year, at least 50 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, have been killed, while 11 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis.
