HISTORY IN DEVELOPMENT HISTORY IN DEVELOPMENT,
At least 21 more Palestinians have been injured after a large number of Israeli forces stormed the Old City of Nablus.
At least six Palestinians have been killed and 21 wounded after Israeli forces stormed several areas of the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, a large number of Israeli forces stormed the city of Nablus and were spotted by Palestinian security forces and armed fighters, according to a spokesman for the Palestinian Fatah movement.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, five Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. One of the dead was unarmed, Palestinian health and security officials said.
Their names are: Hamdi Sobeih Ramzy, 30 years old; Ali Khaled Antar, 26; Hamdi Mohamed Sharaf, 35; Wadih Sobeih Houh, 31; and Mishal Baghdadi, 27 years old.
The ministry later reported that another Palestinian youth, Qusay al-Tamimi, was killed by Israeli forces in the village of Nabi Saleh, near the city of Ramallah, home to the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the occupied West Bank .
The Israeli military said only that its forces were operating in Nablus but gave no further details.
The body of a Palestinian man killed by Israeli forces is carried in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, in the early hours of October 25, 2022. [Jaafar Ashtiyeh/ AFP]
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is making “urgent contacts to stop this aggression against our people” in Nablus, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement.
“All this will have dangerous and destructive consequences,” Abu Rudeineh told Palestinian television.
Local Palestinian sources said Israeli snipers were positioned on the roofs of houses and buildings overlooking Nablus city center and used drones firing missiles.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that the Israeli army prevented its medical teams from entering the al-Qaryoun neighborhood to evacuate the wounded.
In a further development, Israeli forces shelled a civilian vehicle in the Ras al-Ain area, resulting in the death of a Palestinian whose charred body arrived at Rafidia Hospital.
Armed clashes continued in and around the Old City of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said, reporting from Ramallah.
“We are hearing from local sources that they are calling this a ‘scene from hell.’ We are hearing that a large number of Israeli forces have been pushed into the city,” Ibrahim said. Nablus has been under siege by Israeli forces for more than two weeks, he added.
Protesters burn tires on the streets of Nablus during clashes with Israeli forces early on October 25, 2022 [Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP]
“We’ve seen Israeli forces close down the city because they say they’re interested in tracking down a group called the Lion’s Den,” Ibrahim said, adding that the group recently claimed responsibility for a shooting that killed an israeli soldier
Ibrahim Younes, media coordinator for the Palestinian Youth Movement, told Al Jazeera that the Lions’ Den group had emerged from the city’s youth who had taken up arms to defend the city from incursions by Israeli forces, and that later the group became more formalized. and adopted a name.
“To understand the perspective of young Palestinians in the West Bank, you have to look at a situation where there are 800,000 settlers illegally occupying a large percentage of the land there,” Younes said.
“You have constant, daily attacks on young Palestinians, whether they are crossing checkpoints, whether they are walking to school or work,” he said.
“Obviously there will be a lot of popularity among the youth of the West Bank when a group says they will not accept the presence of these settlers on their land,” he added.
Palestine bid farewell to 6 martyrs during clashes and clashes in the morning today.
1- Hamdi Sobeih Ramzi Qayem, 30 years old 2- Ali Khaled Omar Antar, 26 years old 3- Hamdi Muhammad Hamid Sharaf, 35 years old 4- Wadih Sobeih Hoh, 31 years old 5- Mishaal Zahi Baghdadi, 27 years old 6- Qusay Mahmoud Al-Tamimi / Ramallah pic.twitter.com/ELRHyvqkaN
— Shejaeya (@shejae3a) October 25, 2022
On Sunday, the Lions’ Den armed group said one of its fighters, Tamer al-Kilani, was killed when an explosive device planted on a motorcycle detonated in the Old City of Nablus.
The group described al-Kilani as one of its “fiercest fighters” and blamed Israel for the explosion that killed him as he drove by.
The Israeli military declined to comment on the claim that it was behind the killing.
Israeli forces have been carrying out nighttime raids in the occupied West Bank since March in what they say is an attempt to dismantle armed networks and thwart attacks.
In May, Israeli soldiers shot and killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while she was on assignment in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.
Abu Akleh was wearing a press vest and was with other journalists when she was shot dead in what has been described as a targeted killing by Israeli forces.