Ten Palestinians killed after Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank

Ten Palestiniansincluding a minor, died this Wednesday and more than a hundred were injured by shots from the israeli army during a military operation in the West Bank city of Nablus, in one of the most violent days in the area in recent years, and which the Palestinian authorities label as “organized terrorism”.

The Ministry of Health of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) confirmed the death of the Palestinians, including a minor under 16 years of age, a 72-year-old man and a 61-year-old man, and assured that of the 102 registered injuries, at least six are in serious condition.

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, quoted by efeTwo of the injured were journalists who were covering the intervention.

SERIOUS: Israel commits a massacre in the occupied city of Nablus, killing 9 Palestinians and injuring 102 more this morning. pic.twitter.com/nHSkaV1rh6

— Palestine Today (@HoyPalestina) February 22, 2023

The Israeli Police, the Army and the Internal Security Service (Shin Bet) indicated that their forces entered Nablus “with the aim of detaining suspects involved in attacks” against Israelis, who were also already planning new attacks.

According to a joint communiqué, the soldiers surrounded a residence where the suspects were, who opened fire and threw explosives at the troops.

Israeli troops killed the three Palestinians they were looking for, the report said, identifying them as Hossam Aslim, Muhamad Fatah and Walid Dahil.

In addition to the exchange of fire with the wanted suspects, the Army reported that other Palestinian gunmen opened fire, threw stones and Molotov cocktails at its troops, which responded with shots. No Israeli soldiers or policemen were injured in the incidents, notes efe.

According to this source, at least four of the dead Palestinians were identified as militants belonging to different armed groups, including two from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (YIP), considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union.

On the other hand, a spokesman for the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist movement Hamas, which rules in the Strip, warned that “the patience of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza is running out.”

Today’s events are “a crime on the part of the (Israeli) occupation forces,” said a spokesman for the office of the president of the PNA, Mahmud Abbas.

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Accusing Israel of “pushing the region into an explosive situation,” he urged the US government to act immediately and “put pressure on Israel to stop its crimes and aggression against the Palestinian people,” spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said.

The incidents on Wednesday take place amid a sharp escalation of violence within the framework of the Palestinian-Israeli conflictwhich has already cost the lives of 59 Palestinians and 11 Israelis so far in 2023.

Many of these deaths occurred during armed clashes sparked by Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, as well as in deadly attacks by Palestinians against Israelis.

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Interventions like today’s have become almost daily since late March last year, when Israel launched the so-called “Breaking the Wave” operation in response to a series of deadly attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs.

The most frequent focus of these operations is the northern West Bank, especially the cities of Nablus and Jenin, which are home to important local armed groups, responsible for several attacks against Israelis, the Spanish agency points out.