Ten Palestinians were killed and more than 80 wounded by bullets in an Israeli military strike on Wednesday in Nablus.in the occupied West Bank, where there are frequent clashes, according to the Palestinian Authority.
In addition to a 16-year-old teenager, nine men between the ages of 23 and 72 were killed during the raid, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced. Islamic Jihad said one of the local commanders of its military wing was among the dead.
At least 82 people were hospitalized for gunshot wounds. in different establishments in this large Palestinian city, some of which are in serious condition, the ministry said in a statement.
the operative
The Israeli army did not comment on that balance and said it had “no information to give” about the operation for now. Israeli forces indicated shortly before that they were carrying out an operation in Nablus, but gave no further details.
This is the bloodiest raid in the West Bank since January 26 in Jenin, also in the north of the West Bank, where 10 Palestinians were killed, including fighters and a sixty-year-old woman.
The soldiers left the city about three hours after the attack began. before retiring Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters at Palestinian youths who were throwing stones at military vehicles and burning tires.
A journalist from Palestine TV, Mohammed Al Jatib, was injured in the raid, said a reporter for that television network. In the afternoon, a crowd gathered in the city, including armed men, for a funeral. “The occupation authorities and the far-right Israeli government are responsible for this horrible massacre,” he declared.
The Palestinian reaction
Mohamed Shtayehprime minister of the PNA, described the military operation as “organized terrorism” and denounced that Israel seeks to transfer its internal political crisis to the conflict with the Palestinians.
For his part, a spokesman for the office of the president of the ANP, Mahmoud Abbasindicated that today’s incidents are “a crime by the occupying (Israeli) forces.”
In turn Saeed Abu Ali, Assistant Secretary General of the Arab League for Palestinian Affairs. accused Israel of “pushing the region into an explosive situation,” and urged the US government to act immediately and “put pressure on Israel to stop its crimes and aggression against the Palestinian people.”
Neighboring Jordan called for calm and said it will work “intensively with all parties” to end the escalation of violence.
“Priority”
Israeli forces have been carrying out for almost a year operations presented as “anti-terrorism” in search of “suspects” in the northern West Bank, particularly in the cities of Jenin and Nablus, strongholds of armed groups.
The last major Israeli operation in Nablus was in October 2022. Five Palestinians were killed in an attack against the armed group Aren al-Usud (“The Lions’ Den”) based in the city. In a message posted on Telegram, the movement indicated that it participated in the clashes with Israeli forces and that it carried out “a battle of honor”.
These latest clashes occur when violence has increased since the beginning of the year in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 by Israel. After the January operation in Jenin, there were shootouts between armed groups and the Israeli army and there was an attack in East Jerusalem.
Since the beginning of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of more than 50 Palestinians (including members of armed groups and civilians, as well as minors), nine Israeli civilians (including three minors) and a Ukrainian woman.according to AFP count from official Israeli and Palestinian sources.
settlements
From New York, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Anthony Guterresdemanded that Israeli settlements no longer be built in the occupied Palestinian territories, while condemning “terrorism” amid renewed violence in the West Bank.
“Each new settlement is another obstacle on the road to peace,” he told the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP in its acronym in English).
Israel’s right-wing government has faced criticism in recent weeks over its decision to retroactively authorize multiple settlements in the occupied West Bank and build new housing.
“All settlement activity is illegal under international law. It must stop,” Guterres said, adding that “incitement to violence is a dead end. Nothing justifies terrorism.”.
The CEIRPP, an organization that welcomes many Arab and Muslim countries, met at the United Nations headquarters in New York hours after the Israeli military operation in Nablus.
Guterres considered that the situation “in the occupied Palestinian territory is the most explosive in years” in a context of a “blocked” Israeli-Palestinian “peace process”. “Our immediate priority must be to prevent further escalation, reduce tensions and restore calm,” he stressed.
Present at the meeting, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, warned that the Palestinian territories are “on the verge of a big bang” due to the “policies and practices” of the current Israeli government. “We will work with you, Mr. Secretary General, but we must act,” the Palestinian diplomat urged. “We are losing credibility,” he lamented.
This Monday, The UN Security Council denounced, for the first time in six years, the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territoriesstating that such measures “prevent peace” and “jeopardize the viability of the two-state solution.”
The declaration does not have the binding force of a draft resolution considered last week, which called for Israel to “immediately and completely cease” all settlements, but which displeased the United States, which has veto power.
Still, Israel was quick to respond to the statement, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it denied the “historic” rights of the Jewish people. Israel has occupied Palestinian territory since the 1967 Six-Day War.