Israel kills 11 Palestinians, claims of rocket attack after raid

At least 11 Palestinians have been brutally killed and dozens have been wounded during a raid carried out by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

During the raid on Wednesday (22 February), at least 102 people have been injured 82 people have been hit by live ammunition, reports Al Jazeera.

The Israeli army had stormed Nablus with dozens of armoured vehicles and special forces. They blocked off all entrances to the city before surrounding a home with two wanted Palestinian fighters, Hossam Isleem and Mohammad Abdulghani, who were both killed.

"Security forces are now operating in the city of Nablus" the Israeli army said but did not provide further details.

Witnesses described Israeli soldiers opening fire indiscriminately.

According to reports by the Associated Press, among the dead in Nablus were three Palestinian men, ages 72, 66 and 61, and a 16-year-old boy, according to health officials. Scores of others were wounded.

The Palestinian health ministry said that a 66-year-old man passed away due to gas inhalation during the raid. Six other individuals are currently in critical condition.

"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.

Palestinian political parties announced a general strike in the cities of Ramallah and Nablus on Wednesday in response, calling on Palestinians to come out in protest near Israeli army checkpoints.

It was one of the bloodiest battles in nearly a year of fighting in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and raised the likelihood of further bloodshed. The four-hour operation left a broad swath of damage in a centuries-old marketplace in Nablus.

The influx of wounded overwhelmed the city's Najah Hospital, said Ahmad Aswad, the head nurse of the cardiology department. The 36-year-old medic told The Associated Press that he saw many patients shot in the chest, head and thighs.

"They shot to kill," he said.

Israeli police said they were on heightened alert, while Hamas said its patience was "running out." Islamic Jihad, another fighter group, vowed to retaliate. The Lions' Den armed group said in a statement it engaged in clashes with Israeli forces during the raid, alongside the recently announced Balata Brigades.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Palestinian fighters fired six rockets from the Gaza Strip toward the country's south early Thursday (23 February) hours after the raid.

The Israeli military said air defenses intercepted five of the rockets which were fired toward the cities of Ashkelon and Sderot. One missile landed in an open field. There were no reports of damage or casualties.

Israeli officials liken these operations to "mowing the lawn," saying they are necessary to prevent a difficult situation from turning worse. But the raids have shown few signs of slowing the violence, and in cases like Wednesday's operation, can raise the likelihood of reprisals. The military usually conducts raids at night in what it says is a tactic meant to reduce the risk of civilian casualties. But military spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said forces moved quickly after intelligence services tracked down the men in a hideout.

Hecht said Israeli forces surrounded the building and asked the men to surrender, but instead they opened fire. One person who tried to flee the building was shot and killed. He said the military then fired missiles at the house, flattening the building and killing the other two men. At the same time, he said, troops that had set up an outside perimeter came under heavy fire, setting off an intense gunfight.

The military said others hurled rocks and explosives at the troops, and officials released a video taken from inside an armored vehicle as crowds of Palestinian youths pelted it with stones. There were no Israeli casualties.

Nablus and nearby Jenin have been the focus of violent incursions that Israel has intensified over the past year. The cities are where "the concentration of armed resistance is growing", said a Palestinian journalist.

The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the start of 2023 has now risen to 61 people, including 13 children, in the occupied territories.

Israel stepped up its military raids, arrests and killings in Palestinian cities and villages in the occupied West Bank from June 2021, following a popular Palestinian uprising known as the "May outburst" that swept Israel and the Palestinian territories it has illegally occupied since 1967.

Civilians confronting the Israeli army during raids and uninvolved bystanders have been killed, as well as Palestinian fighters in targeted assassinations and during armed clashes.

In March 2022, following a series of individual Palestinian attacks inside Israel, the Israeli army launched a military campaign that led to 2022 being marked by the United Nations as the deadliest year for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2006.

Some 171 Palestinians, including more than 30 children, were killed by the Israeli army in the West Bank last year.