| Date | 3 April 2023 |
|---|---|
| Location | Nablus, West Bank |
| Perpetrator | Israeli army |
| Deaths | 2 |
| Non-fatal injuries | dozens |
| Suspects | Mohammad Abu Baker al-Junaidi and Mohammad Saeed Nasser |
On 3 April 2023, the Israeli army conducted a military operation in Nablus, resulting in the death of two Palestinians and injuries to several others. The operation was in response to allegations that two armed fighters were involved in the shooting of two Israeli settlers in Huwara in February. [1] [2]
The raid was part of a larger trend of increased violence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem over the preceding year. Israeli forces had been conducting frequent arrest raids in Palestinian areas, while Palestinians had carried out attacks against Israelis, leading to the deaths of over 90 Palestinians and 15 Israelis in the same period. [3] [4]
The two men killed during the operation were identified as Mohammad Abu Baker al-Junaidi, the Fatah party's secretary-general in the village of Juneid, and Mohammad Saeed Nasser, a member of the Lions' Den group. Two others, Izz al-Din Touqan and Nidal Tabanja, were apprehended during the raid for allegedly aiding al-Junaidi and Nasser. [3]
The killing of the two Palestinians during the Nablus raid was condemned, with Palestinian factions and the governor of Nablus calling for a strike in the city to protest the killings. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh denounced the deaths, stating that they were part of a "systematic policy embraced" by the Israeli occupation. During the raid, Israeli forces fired tear gas, injuring dozens of people in the al-Makhfiyeh neighborhood. [3]
The Israeli army has said that its forces fired back after being attacked during the raid. Nablus and nearby Jenin had seen increased incursions by Israel over the preceding year, following a popular Palestinian uprising known as the "May outburst" that spread throughout the Palestinian territories and Israel, which it has occupied since 1967. [1]
Huwara or Howwarah is a Palestinian town located in the Nablus Governorate of the State of Palestine. Located in the northern Israeli-occupied West Bank, Huwara is on the main road connecting Nablus southwards to Ramallah and Jerusalem, approximately 4 miles (6 km) from Jacob's Well. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 6,659 in 2017.
The following is a timeline of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2020.
Events in the year 2022 in Israel.
The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.
The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2022.
The 2022 Gaza–Israel clashes code-named as Operation Breaking Dawn lasted from 5 to 7 August 2022. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted some 147 airstrikes in Gaza and Palestinian militants fired approximately 1,100 rockets towards Israel. The operation, ordered by Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz without prior Cabinet discussion or approval, followed a raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in which Israeli forces arrested Bassam al-Saadi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in that area. On 6 August, Israel arrested 20 people in the West Bank of whom 19 were members of PIJ and a further 20 on 7 August according to an unnamed Israeli official.
Events in the year 2022 in Palestine.
The Lions' Den is a Palestinian militant group operating in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2023, including the 2023 events of the Israel–Hamas war.
Events in the year 2023 in Palestine.
On 26 January 2023, the Israel Border Police and the Israeli army conducted an armed raid on the Jenin refugee camp, which is in Area A of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and under Palestinian civil authority. According to The Jerusalem Post, the objective was to prevent a planned terrorist strike and arrest three wanted Islamic Jihad militants.
On 22 February 2023, Israel conducted a military incursion into the Palestinian city of Nablus. After an undercover unit located the house in which two militants were believed to be residing, a firefight broke out, resulting in the deaths of 3 militants. Fighting between Israeli reinforcements and other militants left 4 suspected militants and 4 other Palestinians dead. A further 102 people suffered injuries.
On 26 February 2023, an unidentified person fatally shot two Israeli settlers in their car in Huwara, a town south of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Following the shooting, Israeli settlers carried out revenge attacks on Palestinians, which have killed at least one Palestinian and injured around 100 others. On 7 March, one 49-year-old suspect was killed during an Israeli incursion into Jenin.
During the Israel–Hamas war, Israeli forces have carried out multiple ground incursions, occasionally accompanied by airstrikes, into several Palestinian cities and refugee camps in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including Jenin and Tulkarm. The Israeli incursions have led to clashes with Palestinian militants. 806 West Bank Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the conflict began, including 143 children. The United Nations recorded more than 800 Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians between October 2023 and May 2024. Israel has arrested an estimated 10,000 West Bank Palestinians between 7 October 2023 and August 2024. On 15 December, Doctors Without Borders reported 2023 was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in recorded history.
The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2024, including the events of the Israel–Hamas war.
On 28 August 2024, Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank.
