Smoke billows from buildings hit during an Israeli army raid in the West Bank city of Nablus August 9, 2022. MAJDI MOHAMMED / AP
Three Palestinians, including a senior commander of an armed faction, were killed in a raid by Israeli forces on Tuesday morning, August 9, in Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, 69 Palestinians were also shot dead and injured, at least four of whom are in critical condition.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reports that three Palestinians were killed during the operation, including Islam Sabbouh, 25, and Hussein Taha, 16. But the Israeli army announced the deaths of two Palestinians: Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi, a senior official in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, and another militant.
The body of Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi was transported by a dozen armed men to the Rafidia hospital in Nablus, where hundreds of Palestinians gathered. “Our response will be commensurate with the crime,” Fatah’s armed wing said in a statement, confirming al-Nabulsi’s death.
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Suspected involvement in anti-Israel attacks
The Israeli army claimed its soldiers had “encircled the house of the wanted man, Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi, in Nablus and that “there is[vait] had gunfire.” Police used a missile to target the home of a man suspected of involvement in a series of anti-Israel attacks.
According to an AFP correspondent on the ground, gunfire exchanged between Palestinians and the Israeli army during the raid, while a dozen army vehicles blocked traffic in the city.
“Violent clashes ensued with rioters throwing rocks and explosives at responders [israéliennes] who responded by opening fire. There were several injured [palestiniens]. The armed forces have left the city and there are no casualties among our ranks,” the army said in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid praised the security forces for “carrying out a precise and very successful operation on the Israeli side, without causing any casualties.”
46 Palestinians killed in raids in Gaza Strip
The army raid comes two days after the end of a deadly Israeli military operation launched against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed movement in the Gaza Strip that killed 46 Palestinians, including many children, according to records of Gaza’s ruling Hamas.
Two key Islamic Jihad military leaders in Gaza, Khaled Mansour and Tayssir Al-Jabari, were killed in the Israeli attacks. Islamic Jihad’s military wing confirmed the deaths of 12 of its fighters in the operation.
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In response to airstrikes and artillery fire during the Israeli operation, presented as a pre-emptive measure against Islamic Jihad, the latter fired a thousand rockets towards Israel, the vast majority of which, according to the Israeli army, were intercepted. According to local aid organizations, rocket fire from the Gaza Strip injured three people in Israel.
Armistice between Islamic Jihad and Israel
An Egyptian-backed ceasefire between Islamic Jihad and Israel came into effect Sunday night, allowing border crossings between the Jewish state and the Gaza Strip, an enclave under Israeli blockade for more than fifteen years, to reopen on Monday.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said the operation in Gaza “dealed a devastating blow to the enemy” and expressed his “appreciation” to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi for his country’s mediation. Israel regards Hamas and Islamic Jihad as “terrorist groups”.
“The Israeli government is not interested in peace and stability, it exploits and kills Palestinians for domestic reasons,” Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abou Roudeïna accused Mr Abbas on Tuesday ahead of Israel’s November 1 snap parliamentary elections.