Ramallah, Jul. 7, (dpa/GNA) – Israeli soldiers fatally shot two armed Palestinian men during a military operation in the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
According to Palestinian reports from Friday, the dead were members of Fatah’s armed wing, the al-Aqsa Brigades.
The Israeli military said the men were both suspected of having shot at a police car near an Israeli settlement on Wednesday.
Gunfire broke out when soldiers tried to arrest the men. The Israeli military did not say who fired first but reported that no Israeli soldiers were injured.
Like the Palestinian city of Jenin, Nablus is considered a stronghold of militant Palestinians. Both cities are in the northern West Bank. Israel’s army has been carrying out increased raids there since a series of attacks.
Israel’s largest military operation in Jenin in two decades ended only on Wednesday. Israeli struck targets in Jenin with air raids before about 1,000 soldiers moved into the city at the start of the week to smash what the Israeli government described as “terrorist infrastructure” there.
Israeli troops in Jenin exchanged gunfire with armed residents. At least 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed during the operation.
A total of 155 Palestinians have already died this year in Israeli military operations, confrontations or as a result of their own attacks.
The majority of Palestinians killed were armed fighters, but civilians are also among those killed in military operations.
During the same period, 23 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian were killed in attacks.
The West Bank and East Jerusalem have been under Israeli occupation since being taken during the 1967 Six Day War. The Palestinians claim the areas for their own state.
GNA