NABLUS, West Bank (Dispatches) -- Israeli troops martyred 10 Palestinians and wounded over 100 others during a raid on a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, witnesses and medical officials said.
The Zionist regime’s military confirmed the aggression in Nablus, where troops attacked with the aim of detaining Palestinians suspected of planning imminent attacks.
Those martryed were identified as Adnan Sabe’ Baara, 72; Muhammad Khaled Anbousi, 25; Tamer Minawi, 33; Musab Owais, 26; Hossam Isleem, 24; Muhammad Abu Bakr, 23, Muhammad Abdel-Fattah Abdel-Ghani, 23, Walid Riyad Hussein Dakhil, 23, and Abdel-Hadi Abdel-Aziz Ashqar, 61.
Palestinian resistance movement Islamic Jihad said two of its Nablus commanders had been encircled in a house by Israeli troops, triggering a clash that drew in other resistance fighters. Explosions sounded and local youths pelted armored troop transports with rocks.
Massive confrontations broke out after raid. Zionist troops blocked off all entrances to the city, before surrounding a home belonging to Palestinian resistance fighter, Hossam Isleem.
The Lions’ Den armed group said in a statement that it engaged in clashes with Zionist forces alongside the recently announced Balata Brigades group.
Ahmed Jibril, director of ambulance and emergency services at the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Nablus, said Israeli forces prevented medical staff from reaching the besieged area.
Palestinian sources said the two Islamic Jihad commanders were martyred along with another fighter. The fatalities also included at least three civilians, among them a 72-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy. Medical officials said 102 Palestinians were wounded, six of them critically.
Nablus and nearby Jenin have been a focus of raids that the occupying regime of Israel has intensified over the last year following a spate of retaliatory Palestinian attacks.
Sixty Palestinians, including resistance fighters and civilians, have been martyred in 2023, the Palestinian health ministry said. Ten Zionists died in Palestinian attacks in the same period, according to Israel’s foreign ministry.
Israeli forces launch raids on cities across the occupied West Bank almost on a daily basis under the pretext of detaining what the regime calls “wanted” Palestinians. The raids usually lead to deadly confrontations with residents.
The United Nations marked 2022 as the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in 16 years.
“We condemn the occupation’s raid into Nablus and we call for an end to the continued attacks against our people,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas, another Palestinian resistance