Israeli forces killed three Palestinians on Monday in armed clashes during an operation in a refugee camp in the city of Nablus, one of the main points of tension in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the north of the occupied West Bank, while the harsh escalation of violence.
Israeli soldiers stormed this morning into the Balata refugee camp, where they carried out an incursion that led to "shots and intense clashes" and resulted in the death of three Palestinians by Israeli fire, according to reports from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the official Wafa news agency.
The deceased -32, 30 and 24 years old respectively- were joined by six people who were injured, and at least one of them is in serious condition, Health specified in a statement.
Members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade - an armed group linked to the ruling Fatah party - exchanged fire and confronted the troops, the militia said in a statement.
According to Wafa, Israeli forces entered the Balata camp - the most populous in the West Bank - with armored vehicles in a wide-ranging operation, deployed snipers on the roofs of some buildings and initially prevented ambulances and medical personnel from accessing the site to evacuate the wounded. .
For its part, the Israeli Army reported that it entered the field together with agents of the Border Police and the Internal Intelligence service (Shin Bet) for a raid where they arrested "three suspected of participating in terrorist activities."
They also confiscated "three M-16 rifles, ammunition, military equipment and weapons parts," and located "an explosives manufacturing site" with tens of kilos of material "that was detonated." "During the operation, armed suspects fired at the soldiers, who responded with live ammunition," a military spokesman said.
The office of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, described the events as "a massacre" that constitutes "a war crime" and "is a continuation of the comprehensive war" of Israel "against the Palestinian people."
Nablus, the historic nucleus of armed resistance and bastion of new local militias such as the Lions' Den - which acts independently from the traditional Palestinian factions - is one of the sources of tension this past year with Israel. He has made numerous incursions into the city that have resulted in deaths, the last one on May 15, in which another Palestinian also died.
Raids by Israeli forces in cities and towns in the West Bank have been taking place almost daily for more than a year, amid a sharp rise in tension in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that has also resulted in an increase in Palestinian attacks or aggressions. perpetrated by Israeli settlers. This has made 2023 the deadliest year of the conflict since the Second Intifada (2000-2005).
So far this year, and including today's deaths, 119 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and Israel, most of them militants in violent clashes with Israeli troops during raids on Palestinian towns, but also civilians, including 20 minors. On the Israeli side, 19 people have died in attacks committed by Palestinians, most of them settlers, including three minors.
This morning, Israeli forces also raided the city of Jenin - another focus of armed resistance in the West Bank - where they detained three Palestinians, and carried out operations in other places where they arrested seven more people.
Israel gained control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, and has maintained a long occupation and colonization of these territories ever since.
