Israel raids Nablus, kills 3 Palestinians behind settler attack

The Israeli army has killed at least three Palestinians and wounded four others while firing live ammunition during a raid in Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian officials.

Hamas, the Palestinian group governing the besieged Gaza Strip, said in a statement the three men – identified as Hassan Qatnani, Moaz al-Masri and Ibrahim Jabr – were its members.

The Israeli army and intelligence service said in a statement the men were behind a shooting on April 7 north of Jericho, in which two settler sisters died when gunmen opened fire on their vehicle. Their mother later died of her wounds.

Hamas, in its statement, claimed responsibility for that attack and described the killing of the three men as an “assassination” of the “heroes of resistance in the city of Nablus”.

As the funerals of the three men were held, political factions in Nablus announced a general strike on Thursday in response to the attack.

Locals in Nablus told Al Jazeera that large numbers of Israeli forces, including undercover units, raided the Old City of Nablus as residents were starting the day. The soldiers then surrounded one house, exchanging fire with the Palestinian fighters inside.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said four other people were transferred to hospital and at least 150 people suffered tear gas inhalation, including schoolchildren, during the Israeli raid.

Reporting from Nablus, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said there was “a tense mood” in the city.

“We’ve heard chants of defiance at the funerals and vows to retaliate,” she added.

Separately on Thursday, Israeli soldiers shot dead a 26-year-old Palestinian woman in an alleged stabbing attack in Huwara.

The Israeli army and settlers have killed at least 107 Palestinians, 20 of them were children, so far in 2023, according to the health ministry.

The figure also includes 44-year-old Palestinian prisoner Sheikh Khader Adnan, who died on Tuesday on the 87th day of a hunger strike against his repeated arbitrary detention.

The death of Adnan, who was arrested on March 5 and was awaiting military trial, caused widespread anger and protests in the occupied West Bank and led to rocket attacks on Israel by armed resistance groups in the besieged Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday night, a 58-year-old Palestinian man, Hashel Mubarak, was killed in Israeli aerial attacks on the Gaza Strip, and five others were injured.

Source: Al Jazeera