Five Palestinians were killed during an Israeli assault targeting the Lions Den resistance group in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on October 25.
The Israeli army, special police unit Yamam and Israel’s domestic spying and torture agency Shin Bet invaded Nablus in the early hours and surrounded several buildings.
Israeli forces fired antitank missiles at a building believed to contain Palestinian militants, according to local media. Drones were also reportedly flying overhead during the operation.
The Israeli army claims it destroyed a makeshift weapons workshop belonging to the group. During the attack, the Israeli military also killed the group’s leader, Wadie al-Houh Abu Subeih.
Others killed in confrontations between the Palestinian resistance and the Israeli invaders in Nablus were identified by the health ministry as Hamdi Subeih Qim, 30, Ali Khaled Antar, 26, Hamdi Muhammad Sabri Sharaf, 35, and Mishaal Zahi Baghdadi, 27.
At least 20 other Palestinians were injured during the Israeli attack.
Israeli forces killed a sixth Palestinian in the village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, as residents demonstrated in support of Palestinians in the northern West Bank.
The Israeli military claimed they “identified a suspect who threw a bomb at them” and they “responded by shooting.”
Israeli live fire hit Qusai al-Tamimi in the chest, according to the health ministry, killing him.
There was a large turnout for his funeral in the village, which has seen many of its inhabitants killed by the occupation during years of unarmed resistance against Israel’s theft of its land for colonial settlements.
In their tweets, the Israeli army did not identify al-Tamimi as the person who allegedly threw the bomb.
Israeli forces routinely lie about events to justify killing Palestinians so Israeli army assertions cannot be taken at face value.
Medical workers said that Palestinians threw stones at soldiers, according to Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz.
According to the Israeli military, no soldiers were injured during Tuesday’s attacks on Palestinians throughout the West Bank.
On Sunday, a Lions Den fighter was killed in Nablus after his motorcycle exploded.
The group claimed that Israel had assassinated Tamer al-Kilani with the help of a local collaborator who rigged his motorcycle with an explosive.
It posted footage showing someone bringing a motorcycle into an alley – purportedly the same motorcycle that killed al-Kilani.
Israel has not commented on the incident, neither confirming nor denying its involvement in al-Kilani’s death.
Rising force
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said the goal of Tuesday’s attack was “to deal a severe and lasting blow” to the armed resistance in Nablus and Jenin, northern West Bank cities.
That has been Israel’s refrain for decade after decade, but its violence has yet to succeed in suppressing Palestinian resistance for any length of time. As the emergence of the Lions Den demonstrates, Israeli repression only gives rise to more resistance.
Lions Den leader Wadie al-Houh’s sister praised her brother as embodying “every beautiful thing” and said that in death he had gone to join their late mother.
Enormous numbers of Palestinians marched on October 25 to mourn those killed by Israel in Nablus. Palestinians also came out in large numbers in Gaza City. There was also a show of support for the resistance in Haifa and Umm al-Fahm, cities inside Israel.
Also in Gaza some Palestinians burned tires and protested near the boundary fence with Israel. The massive numbers demonstrated the widespread support for the Lions Den, a group of Palestinian fighters based in Nablus who have been involved in several resistance operations recently targeting the Israeli military.
The group says it is independent of any existing political party.
The group’s members often dress in black. When they appear outside of combat, they tie red ribbons around the barrels of their rifles. This signifies that they will not fire during funerals or ceremonies, but only in combat with the enemy.
Lions Den emerged in August, signaling a renewed era of organized, armed resistance in the occupied West Bank.
One of its founders was Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, a young resistance fighter killed along with one of his comrades in an Israeli attack on Nablus that month.
The new resistance group has bedeviled Israel and its occupation apparatus.
One of Lions Den’s members killed an Israeli soldier earlier this month and has not been caught.
Deadly month
Meanwhile on Friday, Israeli fire killed a 19-year-old Palestinian.
Undercover agents of Yamam, an Israeli police unit, surrounded a home in Jenin shortly after midnight on Friday using civilian vehicles.
Israeli military vehicles and special forces also moved into the area and Israeli soldiers positioned themselves on nearby buildings before raiding the house.
Palestinians hurled stones and empty bottles and cartons at the vehicles to defend their neighborhood, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians immediately, wounding three and killing one. Salah Abdullah Breki, 19, was killed. He and other Palestinians threw stones at Israeli army vehicles, an eyewitness told PCHR fieldworkers.
[Abridged from electronicintifada.net.]