(Nablus) Two Palestinian fighters were killed in a new Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the day after a UN call for Israel to work for a “serious political process” with the Palestinians against a backdrop of yet another outbreak of violence.
Khaïri Chahine (34) and Hamza Maqboul (32), both members of the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), were killed in the morning in the old town of Nablus, a stronghold of armed groups Palestinians in the northern West Bank, where the Israeli army has been increasing for months what it presents as “anti-terrorist operations”.
Witnesses told AFP that a gunfight broke out after Israeli forces surrounded a house. Three other Palestinians were injured in the exchange of fire, according to the Ministry of Health.
In a statement, the Israeli army said it entered Nablus in an attempt to arrest Shahine and Maqboul, perpetrators, according to the army and their organization, of an attack which caused no deaths on Wednesday near a Jewish settlement south of Nablus.
“The two terrorists were killed following exchanges of fire with the Israeli forces”, writes the army, whose raid comes against the backdrop of a new resurgence of violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the beginning of the week.
On Thursday, an Israeli soldier was killed in a Palestinian attack in the northern West Bank. He was buried on Friday at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, according to AFP journalists.
The army said it had “neutralized” the assailant, whose death has not yet been officially announced.
“Restore Hope”
The attack was claimed by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which presented it as a “reaction” to the Israeli military operation carried out in the Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin (north of the West Bank) from Monday to Wednesday.
This operation, on a scale unprecedented for years in the theater of the occupied West Bank, left 12 dead on the Palestinian side and one dead on the Israeli side.
“Restoring the hope of the Palestinian people in a serious political process, leading to a two-state solution and an end to the occupation, is Israel’s essential contribution to its own security,” the Secretary General of the Palestinian Authority said on Thursday. UN Antonio Guterres, while the prospect of unblocking the peace process, which has been deadlocked for years, seems more distant than ever.
“I understand Israel’s legitimate security concerns. But climbing is not the answer. This reinforces radicalization and leads to a worsening cycle of violence and bloodshed,” Guterres added, denouncing the “excessive use of force” by the Israeli army during its operation in Jenin. .
According to a statement from his office, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke on the phone Thursday evening with his American counterpart, Llyod Austin, to whom he affirmed that Israel would continue “to defend itself against all kinds of threats and act decisively against terrorism”.
At least 192 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as 27 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian, according to an AFP count established from official sources.
These statistics include, on the Palestinian side, combatants and civilians, including minors, and on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, including minors, and three members of the Arab minority.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
On another front, the Israeli army carried out a series of artillery strikes on southern Lebanon from the occupied Syrian Golan on Thursday, which reportedly caused no casualties, in response to an unclaimed anti-tank missile fire from of Lebanese territory.