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Nablus clashes: Ten Palestinians killed during Israeli raid Ten Palestinians killed during Israeli raid in Nablus
(about 5 hours later)
Palestinian youths threw stones and other objects at Israeli armoured troop carriersPalestinian youths threw stones and other objects at Israeli armoured troop carriers
Ten Palestinians, including an elderly man and several militants, have been killed during a raid by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, witnesses and Palestinian health officials say. Israeli troops have killed at least 10 Palestinians and wounded dozens more during a raid in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials say.
Explosions and gunfire sounded as troops entered the heart of Nablus, triggering armed clashes with gunmen. Explosions and gunfire sounded as troops entered the old city of Nablus on Wednesday morning, sparking armed clashes with Palestinian gunmen.
The Israeli military said its forces surrounded a building while looking for "wanted terror suspects". The Israeli military said it killed three wanted militants holed up inside a house who refused to surrender.
The men were shot and killed after they opened fire at the troops, it added. Several of those killed outside were civilians, including two elderly men.
The troops also shot back after coming under fire from other armed men and having explosives, petrol bombs and stones thrown at them during the clashes, according to the military. The Palestinian health ministry said 72-year-old Adnan Saabe Baara was one of them. Video footage purportedly showed his body in a street next to bags of bread, in what is usually a busy market area.
The Palestinian health ministry said 72-year-old Adnan Saabe Baara was among those killed during the raid. A 61-year-old man, Abdul Hadi Ashqar, and a 16-year-old boy, Mohammad Shaaban, were also named among the dead.
Video footage showed a body in a street next to bags of bread, in what is usually a busy market area of the old city. Six members of the Lions' Den and other militant groups were killed during the raid, the Lions' Den said in a Telegram post.
A 61-year-old man called Abdul Hadi Abdul Aziz Ashqar and a 16-year-old boy Mohammad Farid Shaaban also died, according to the health ministry. The number of dead so far is equal to that of an Israeli military raid last month in Jenin, which was the deadliest in the West Bank since 2005.
More than 100 other Palestinians were also wounded by gunfire. Seven of them are in a critical condition in local hospitals. What makes this raid even more significant is the huge numbers wounded, with the Palestinian health ministry saying more than 80 people have suffered bullet wounds. Five different hospitals in Nablus are currently treating them.
The Israeli military named the three militants who were the targets of the raid as Mohammed Abdul Fattah, 23, a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Walid Dkhail, 23, and Hussam Isleem, 24, of the Lion's Den group. Senior Palestinian official Hussein al-Sheikh condemned what he described as a "massacre", while a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he held Israel's government responsible for "this dangerous escalation, which is pushing the region toward tension and an explosion".
The military said they were suspected of carrying out previous shooting attacks, including one last October that killed an Israeli soldier, and of planning others in the near future. The militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, warned that it was "monitoring the escalating crimes conducted by the enemy against our people in the occupied West Bank and is running out of patience".
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he condemned the raid and held Israel's government responsible for "this dangerous escalation, which is pushing the region toward tension and an explosion". A large crowd of mourners gathered in Nablus on Wednesday afternoon for the funerals of those killed
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, warned that it was "monitoring the escalating crimes conducted by the enemy against our people in the occupied West Bank and is running out of patience". The raid lasted four hours and took place in the middle of morning, when the narrow streets of the old city are often packed with families and people shopping.
Nablus and nearby Jenin have been the focus of search, arrest and intelligence gathering raids that Israel has intensified over the last year amid a spate of deadly Palestinian attacks. Resident Khalil Shaheen described hearing an explosion, which woke him up.
This latest one comes despite reports this week of an understanding brokered by the US aimed at calming tensions. "I looked out the window and saw special forces with dogs, and they were connecting wires, which I assume are for TNT [explosives], God knows," he said.
So far this year, at least 50 Palestinians - including militants and civilians - have been killed, while 11 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it "upgraded" its operation after forces were shot at by Palestinian gunmen. Its troops fired shoulder-launched missiles at the building where the wanted militants were hiding, which caused it to partially collapse.
It said it acted when it did because it had real-time information - thought to be a geolocated Facebook post - on the location of one of the militants.
"We saw the threat and we had to go in and finish the work," IDF spokesman Lt Col Richard Hecht said in a briefing to reporters.
But Palestinian videos posted on social media also show young men in the street, who appear unarmed, apparently being fired at while running away, with one falling to the ground as gunshots are heard. The IDF described the footage as "problematic" and said it was being reviewed.
Two of the militants in the encircled building were Muhammad Junaidi, a commander in Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and another senior militant figure, Hussam Isleem.
The IDF said they and the third militant, Walid Dkhail, were suspected of carrying out previous shooting attacks, including one in the West Bank last October that killed an Israeli soldier, and of planning more attacks in the near future. Two other suspects were arrested in Nablus last week.
During the raid, Isleem recorded a WhatsApp audio message that was shared on social media, saying: "We're in trouble, but we won't surrender ourselves. We won't hand over our weapons. I'll die as a martyr. Keep carrying weapons after us."
Isleem's house had been raided by Israeli forces earlier this month and his family interrogated. His father told Palestinian media afterwards that forces told him his son should hand himself in or he would be killed.
Both Isleem and Junaidi were active in the Lions' Den - a new militant group that emerged in Nablus over the last year amid a collapse in control by the official Palestinian Authority security forces.
As with a similar group in the nearby city of Jenin, the young gunmen used TikTok and Telegram to spread a message of armed resistance against the Israeli occupation to a new generation of Palestinians.
Israel has targeted parts of both cities in waves of search, arrest and intelligence-gathering raids, saying it is trying to stem the spate of deadly attacks against Israelis.
So far this year, more than 60 Palestinians - including militants and civilians - have been killed, while 11 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis.
Wednesday's deadly raid in Nablus is a further sign that recent attempts led by the US to ease tensions are failing.
This week, the Palestinian Authority abandoned its push for a vote at the UN Security Council on a resolution which would have censured Israel's new nationalist government over its plans to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
As part of an apparent understanding, Israel then said it would not announce new settlements in the coming months. According to sources quoted in the Israeli media, Israel was also to lower the intensity of its raids into Palestinian cities.
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