Mentally Disabled Palestinian Killed in Israeli Raid in West Bank
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A mentally disabled young Palestinian man was killed and eight other Palestinians were wounded during clashes that broke out in an Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the occupied northern West Bank city of Nablus.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Israeli forces stormed Balata refugee camp and surrounded the house of a wanted resistance fighter, triggering armed confrontations with Palestinians.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Faris Abdul Munim Hashash, 19, was shot by Israeli forces during the clashes. He was brought to Rafidia Surgical Hospital in Nablus with bullet wounds to the chest, abdomen and lower limbs. He was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
Eight other Palestinians were treated for gunshot wounds, including one who was hit in the head, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said.
The Israeli military announced that the military operation was to chase down Issam al-Salaj, a resistance fighter residing in the area.
“The military bombed the house, they damaged it,” Husam Sallaj, Issam’s uncle, told Reuters news agency. He said his nephew was wounded but not captured.
The Palestinian man’s brother, Suhaib Sullaj, said an Israeli commander rang to demand that Issam turn himself in. “He said, ‘We want to bomb the house. If you don’t leave, we will kill you, Issam, your mother and sisters, the entire family.'”
Local media said the family’s house was partly destroyed. Furniture, mattresses and children’s toys were seen scattered in one of the rooms. A car parked in a narrow alley near the targeted house was also torched.
The Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement mourned the death of Hashash but did not say the 19-year-old was his member.
It said in a statement that recurrent Israeli attacks against Palestinian resistance fighters, the latest of which was carried out during the raid on the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus, would not deter their struggle against the occupying regime.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian resistance group Lions' Den mourned the death of Faris Abdul Munim Hashash, emphasizing that resistance fighters bravely stood up against Israeli Special Forces, and the forces were humiliated and forced to withdraw from the camp.
The resistance group noted in a statement that Palestinian fighters courageously confronted Israeli forces in the Old City of Nablus two days ago, and thwarted their plot against the resistance front with bullets and homemade explosives.
The Lions’ Den also called upon all fighters and resistance groups to mobilize for an imminent battle in the northern part of the West Bank.
It stated that the Zionist regime has murdered Palestinians and committed various crimes against them, and must fully bear the consequences of all its criminal activities.
The group stated that resistance will never stop across the Palestinian territories.
Tensions have been running high in the occupied West Bank over the past year, with the Israeli military conducting violent raids under the pretext of detaining what it calls “wanted” Palestinians.
As a result of these attacks, nearly 160 Palestinians, including 28 children, have lost their lives and many others have been arrested in 2023.
