three Palestinian fighters killed in the West Bank

Three Palestinian fighters were killed Sunday, March 12, before dawn, in an exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers near Nablus, in the north of the occupied West Bank. This new deadly incident comes as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems to be sucked into a new inextricable spiral of violence since the entry into office at the end of December of one of the most right-wing governments in the history of Israel, under the leadership of the Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli army announced that a fourth man had surrendered and been arrested for questioning. No Israeli soldier was injured, according to the army, whose communication published photos of the weapons used according to it by the slaughtered Palestinians: three M16 machine guns with several refills of ammunition and a pistol.

The three Palestinians were identified as Mohammad Dabik, Oudai Shami and Mohammad Shami aged 18, 22 and 24 respectively, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. They were members of the Lions Den, according to this armed group that emerged in 2022 in Nablus.

Nearly a hundred deaths in 2023

The versions of the Israeli army and the Den of Lions agree on the fact that a group of Palestinian fighters attacked soldiers in area B (under Israeli security control) at the Surra-Jit checkpoint, west of Nablus. This military post controls access between the Palestinian town and the Jewish settlement of Kedumim.

Since the beginning of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 81 Palestinians (including members of armed groups and civilians, including minors), 12 civilians (including three minors) and one Israeli policeman, as well as than a Ukrainian, according to an AFP tally compiled from official Israeli and Palestinian sources.