An alleged Israeli raid targeting Palestine's West Bank reportedly killed at least ten people, including a 16-year-old boy. It injured more than 100 others in the latest in a series of high-tension developments.
Palestinian officials described the incident as a massacre as Israeli authorities noted that the operation on Wednesday in Nablus was done to target three suspects. The individuals were believed to be planning attacks in the future.
Israeli Raid on Palestine's West Bank
The Israel Defense Force (IDF) and Israel Security Agency released a statement that the three suspects were neutralized in the attack. The IDF added that one of the men was shot when he tried to flee, while the other two lost their lives during an exchange with military personnel.
Israeli officials claimed that the suspects threw rocks, Molotov cocktails, and suspected "explosive devices" at military forces. The Israeli military's raid started at around 10:15 a.m., said the local director of the Red Crescent, Ahmad Jibril. He added that it was a time when everyone was still shopping in the open market of the old city, as per CNN.
Jibril added that they stationed snipers on the rooftops equipped with live ammunition, saying that this was why many people were shot in the head, shoulders, and backs. He noted that many people who were unarmed and trying to flee the area were shot dead.
The Red Crescent local director said there was also a drone that randomly dropped tear gas while other drones fired live ammunition. A spokesman for the IDF, Maj. In contrast to Jibril's claims, Nir Dinar noted that Israel did not operate drones that fired a live shot in the West Bank.
Dinar argued that Jibril and others only saw small drones that dropped tear gas grenades meant for riot dispersal means, which he confirmed were used during the incident. The Red Crescent official said that some Israeli special forces disguised themselves as locals, a claim that Dinar refused to comment on, only noting that the IDF had such capabilities.
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Rising Tensions
The incident was considered one of the bloodiest battles in nearly a year of fighting between the two sides in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. According to the Associated News, it raised the possibility of further bloodshed.
Health authorities reported that two fatalities were Palestinian men aged 72 and 61, while a third was a 16-year-old boy. The operation, which lasted four hours, targeted Nablus, which is known as a militant stronghold.
A medic who pronounced a man dead suddenly noticed that the lifeless patient was his father. An amateur video also showed two men elsewhere, who were unharmed, being shot down while running in the street.
Last month, a similar raid was conducted, followed by a deadly assault outside of a Jerusalem synagogue. At the time, the Hamas militant group said that its patience was "running out," said the New York Post.
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