One Palestinian killed, three wounded in Israeli raid in Nablus

Israeli forces killed one Palestinian on Wednesday and wounded three others in a military raid on the Palestinian refugee camp of Balata in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

The victim was identified by the Palestinian health ministry as 18-year-old Mahdi Hashash, from the Balata refugee camp. 

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that Hashash was wounded by live bullets in the foot and the stomach and he died shortly after being brought to the Rafidia hospital.

Las fuerzas de ocupación israelí asesinaron hoy al joven palestino, Mahdi Hashash, del campo de refugiados de Balata, cerca de la ciudad de Nablus, en el norte de la Palestina ocupada.#Palestina #noticias #PBI #news #IsraeliCrimes pic.twitter.com/8LxrMsGUDA

— Palestina Internacional Broadcast (@pbi_es) November 9, 2022

"Occupation forces raided Nablus from the eastern part after midnight to secure the entry of Israeli settlers to the 'Joseph's Tomb' religious site," Mohammad Raei, a human rights activist based in Nablus, told The New Arab.

"The occupation forces took over several rooftops and positioned snipers, while Palestinian fighters clashed with the occupation forces around the Balata camp," Raei noted.

"Mahdi Hashash was shot by a sniper during the raid, and he was taken to the Rafidia hospital, and he died shortly after," he added.

Palestinians in Nablus bid farewell to slain Mahdi Hashash who was fatally shot at dawn by the lsraeli occupation forces during a military raid. pic.twitter.com/uvCIGGdTbt

— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) November 9, 2022

"Mahdi was a very brave young man," his uncle told TNA. "He was the younger of two brothers, and since he finished school he was so impacted by Israeli raids on Nablus that he wanted to be present at each raid and confront the occupation."

Israeli media quoted the Israeli army, claiming that its soldiers shot Mahdi Hashash as he was placing an explosive device during the confrontations.

In a statement, the Al-Aqsa martyrs brigades, and the armed wing of the Palestinian Fatah faction, mourned Mahdi Hashash as one of their fighters.

BREAKING: Heavily-armed Israeli occupation forces storm Nablus city and fire tear gas canisters in the Amman Street area. This comes after the announcement that the colonial settlers will storm Joseph's Tomb. pic.twitter.com/hH1bTD25VY

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) November 9, 2022

According to Israeli reports, several Israeli members of Knesset were among the group of settlers who headed to the Joseph tomb site in Nablus, and whom the military raid was meant to escort.

The settlers who were shot at by Palestinian fighters included lawmakers from Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, the far-right 'Jewish Force' party, allied with Netanyahu's Likud in the latest elections, and from the religious Zionism far-right party, also allied with Netanyahu. None of them was reported hurt.

In mid-October, Israeli forces imposed a military siege on Nablus that lasted three weeks, affecting the economy and daily life in the city. The siege was lifted last week.

The killing of Mahdi Hashash arrives in the midst of an ongoing escalation of Israeli raids in the West Bank that has claimed the lives of more than 160 Palestinians since the beginning of 2022.