Hundreds of people took to the streets early this morning in several cities to protest the Israeli military assault on the northern West Bank city of Nablus that left four Palestinians dead and 21 injured, including four critical.

Palestinian news agency WAFA said the protesters were denouncing the Israeli military aggression, which was described by the Palestinian presidency as a war crime.

Four Palestinians were killed in the Israeli assault on Nablus this morning and a fifth youth was killed by army bullets during clashes in a protest against the aggression in the village of Nabi Saleh near Ramallah.

Calls were made for a general strike today in Nablus.