Three Killed In Nablus By Israeli Forces
Three Palestinian militants were murdered by Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, in the neighborhood of Al-Makhfiyeh on Tuesday, according to Israel. They were suspected of being behind recent gun assaults.
The individuals were armed and in a vehicle, according to the Shin Bet internal security service, and were slain in a fight with security personnel. According to the report, no Israelis were injured as a result of the firing. The three deaths were confirmed by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Photos of the three guys circulating online show them holding assault guns and one wearing an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade headband, which is loosely linked to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party. In a statement published on a Fatah-affiliated social media page, the militant group called the three men “heroic martyrs” and promised vengeance. They were identified to be Ibrahim Al-Nablusi, Adham Mabrouk, and Mohammed Al-Dakhil, but their ages were not given.
Benny Gantz, Israel’s Defense Minister, commended the security personnel and stated that he had just ordered increased protection in the area. “We will continue our proactive actions, thwarting and apprehending anyone who tries to endanger human life,” he stated.
“An eyewitness we spoke to said the [Israeli] army … fired at the car that the three Palestinians were using. She said that for more than a minute, she kept hearing gunshots being fired,” Al Jazeera’s Rania Zabaneh, reporting from Nablus, said. “When we got to the location, the car was being towed away, it was totally riddled with bullets. At the hospital where the bodies were taken the doctors said they had a hard time recognizing the victims because of the gunshots.”
The foreign ministry held the Israeli government and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett responsible, saying that they were ‘fully and directly responsible for this crime’, elaborating in a statement that, “The silence of the international community to Israeli violations and crimes provides a cover to these criminal acts and encourages the Israeli occupier to continue in its open warfare against the Palestinians.”
Palestinian and international human rights organizations have long denounced what they regard as a shoot-to-kill strategy and excessive use of force. Last year, according to B’Tselem, an Israeli rights organization, 77 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank. According to the report. Moreover, half of those killed were not involved in any attacks.