Six Palestinians died this morning, five in armed clashes with the Israeli Army in Nablus, in addition to a young man in a town near Ramallah in another raid, the Palestinian government confirmed, on the most violent night so far this year in the occupied West Bank. .
Strong armed clashes broke out in Nablus when Israeli troops entered and destroyed a building used, according to an Israeli army spokesman, as a bomb factory by Lions' Den, a new militia born in that city and which it accuses of being responsible for dozens of attacks in recent weeks.
Since the beginning of the year, 132 Palestinians have been killed in violent incidents with Israel in the occupied West Bank alone, the bloodiest year in the area since 2015, when the Knife Intifada broke out. In addition, 51 Palestinians were killed in the three-day escalation in August against Islamic Jihad.
“A joint force of Army soldiers, Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) agents and anti-terrorist units raided a hideout in the old city of Nablus that was being used as a bomb workshop by senior members of the Lions' Den,” a report reported. military spokesman in a statement.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the five Nablus dead as Hamdi Ramzy Qaim, 30, Ali Antar, 26, Hamdi Sharaf, 35, Wadi Houth, 31, and Ahmed Baghdadi, 27, in addition to confirming 20 wounded. in the clashes, three of them serious.
The identity of the victim in the village of Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah, has not been revealed, although the ministry also confirmed the death that occurred there this morning.
Of those killed in Nablus, at least three were militiamen and, specifically, Wadi Houth has been claimed as one of the leaders of Lions' Den, although he was also linked to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades - a militia associated with the Fatah party - a group which has praised him with "pride and honor" as a "martyr of the occupation".
After a large convoy of Israeli troop vehicles entered Nablus at around 1:00 local time, loud explosions and gunfire were heard for more than an hour, and according to Palestinian media, Israel launched an anti-tank missile.
"Our forces blew up the bomb shop," confirmed the Israeli army, which accused Palestinians of shooting, burning tires and throwing stones at troops, for which they "returned fire."
The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, established "urgent contacts to stop this aggression against our people" at dawn and praised "the firmness of the Palestinians in defending their land," confirmed his spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeinah.
Both the Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have confirmed their participation in the clashes against the Israeli Army, which focused its operation on the Lions' Den, a new militia that has gained great popularity among the youngest in the northern West Bank, whose ranks are growing rapidly and which has no clear command or hierarchy.
On Sunday Tamer Kilani, a 33-year-old Palestinian considered one of its leaders, was killed by a sticky bomb placed on his motorcycle, an explosion in the heart of Nablus for which the group accused Israel.
Lion's Den has claimed responsibility for most of the shooting attacks in the Nablus area since August, which have intensified in the past two weeks, prompting Israel to impose a blockade on the city that continues from October 11.
An Israeli soldier was killed that day in an attack by them on the Shavei Shomron settlement near Nablus, and a settler was injured in another.
Although their attacks have not been very effective, videos of shootings posted on social media are helping them gain popularity on the Palestinian streets, especially among younger people.
Pressure on the West Bank has been exacerbated by increasingly frequent attacks by settlers, particularly in Huwara and other neighboring settlement towns in the Nablus area.
An "anti-terrorist offensive", according to Israel, launched earlier this year and focused on the northern West Bank has generated more than 2,000 arrests in almost nightly raids, and more than 130 deaths, most of them militiamen, but also minors and unarmed civilians such as Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. In this wave of violence, 22 people have died on the Israeli side, fifteen of them civilians.
