NABLUS (Dispatches) – Thousands attended a funeral procession on Sunday for two Palestinian youths martyred by Zionist troops during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus.
The Palestinian health ministry said Muhamad Azizi, 25, was killed by a bullet to the chest while Abdul Rahman Jamal Suleiman Sobh, 28, was shot in the head overnight.
“This Israeli crime will not defeat our people and will not break their will,” said Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas.
“The entire region will remain in a cycle of violence until the occupation ends and a just peace is achieved, he added in a statement to Voice of Palestine radio.
At least 19 other people were hospitalized, with one of them suffering serious gunshot wounds in the head.
The violent clashes occurred after Zionist troops and their vehicles stormed Nablus from several directions and surrounded the Al Yasmina neighborhood in the Old City.
The occupation forces also deployed several snipers on the roofs of buildings in the Ras al-Ain area, firing bullets and rocket-propelled grenades.
The Zionist troops were, however, forced to withdraw from the West Bank city after a three-hour raid, with Palestinian medics and ambulances rushing to the area to attend to the casualties.
Zionist troops were also reported to have had clashes with Palestinians after storming the flashpoint city of Jenin.
Palestinian authorities announced a day of national mourning in Nablus following the martyrdom of the two young men.
In recent weeks, the regime has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied West Bank.
As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested over protests at the regime’s settlement expansion across the Palestinian territories.
About 600,000 Zionists live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Al-Quds.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state, with East Al-Quds as its capital.