NABLUS, Palestine
The Israeli army commenced wide-scale military drills early Sunday in Aqraba, a region in the West Bank city of Nablus, a local activist has said.
"The Israeli army began about two weeks ago assembling military equipment near Aqraba, which included some 100 artillery units, armored personnel carriers and large military hardware," local activist Hamza Deriah told The Anadolu Agency.
These large-scale drills are the first of their kind in Aqraba, Deriah said, noting that the duration of these exercises remains unclear.
He went on to note that the Israeli drills portend the destruction of crops and wheat fields in the surroundings of Aqraba.
"They also caused panic among citizens of the region in the early hours of Sunday, especially that the drills are taking place near a residential area," he added.
The Israeli army usually conducts drills in the occupied West Bank, especially in the Jordan Valley, which is often accompanied by the forced displacement of dozens of local Palestinian families due to the proximity of their homes to the training sites.
Palestinians often worry about unexploded ordnance left behind by the Israeli army after the drills, which have led to the death of many Palestinians, including children, over the past years.
Israeli media outlets had said that the army planned to carry out wide-scale drills in the Jordan Valley that would last for several days.
