Six Palestinians were killed on Tuesday in raids by the Israeli army in the West Bank, targeting in particular an armed group implicated in the attacks, the “Lions’ Den”. Thousands of people attended the funerals of five of them on Tuesday. Before dawn, five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid targeting the armed group “Areen al-Oussoud” in Nablus, a major city in the northern West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. A sixth Palestinian was fatally shot in the chest in the village of Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah, during clashes with the Israeli army, the ministry added. The Israeli army said it fired in the direction of a “suspect throwing an explosive device”.
A compact crowd of several thousand people, including hooded gunmen firing in the air, gathered in the center of Nablus to attend the funeral of the five Palestinians, AFP journalists noted. In the old city of Nablus, the army confirmed having carried out a vast operation with the police against the “HQ and a workshop for the manufacture of weapons” of the Areen al-Oussoud group. “Several armed suspects were hit by bullets,” she said in a statement. “Dozens of Palestinians burned tires and threw stones” at the soldiers who “retaliated by opening fire”.
‘Lions’ Den’ leader Wadih Al-Houh was killed in the operation, Palestinian group confirms ‘They must know that we will reach them wherever they are, Israel will never stop acting for its security (…) The goal is to reduce terrorism and to ensure that it does not affect Israeli citizens,” declared Prime Minister Yaïr Lapid, campaigning for the early legislative elections on 1 November.