Violence in the occupied West Bank continues. Israeli forces announced on Wednesday, January 17, that they had killed a Palestinian in an airstrike in the Nablus region, described as the leader of a “terror cell” that was preparing an attack. The Palestinian Red Crescent also announced the deaths of four people in an Israeli army attack in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the northwest West Bank.
In a joint statement, the Israeli army and internal security service Shin Beth described the man killed in Nablus as the “head of a terrorist infrastructure in the camp.” [de réfugiés] de Balata,” which predicted an “imminent and large-scale” attack.
They identified him as “Amed Abdullah Abu Shalal.” According to Israeli authorities, he was killed in “a precise airstrike” along with members of his “cell,” the number of whom was not disclosed.
They accuse him of responsibility for an attack in a Jewish settlement neighborhood in the East Jerusalem sector in April 2023, in which two residents were injured by gunfire, as well as for a bomb attack on Israeli soldiers last October, the exact location and time of which have been announced are not specified.
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The body of an unidentified man was taken to Nablus hospital after “the occupier bombed a car near Balata camp,” the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry said.
“An imminent terrorist attack”
Israeli authorities reported intelligence that the cell was planning “an imminent terrorist attack.” According to the army and a press release from Shin Beth, weapons were discovered in the targeted vehicle. The group “received funding and instructions from Iranian sources working with terrorist command centers in Gaza and abroad,” they continued, without further details.
Since the war in Gaza began on October 7, tensions have been extreme in the West Bank, where Israeli security forces have carried out almost daily raids. According to a count by Agence France-Presse (AFP) based on figures from the Palestinian authorities, around 350 Palestinians were killed there.
The war was triggered by Hamas attacks from the Gaza Strip on Israeli soil, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, killed on October 7, according to an AFP count of official Israeli figures.
According to the latest figures from Hamas' health ministry, nearly 24,450 Palestinians, the vast majority women, children and teenagers, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 7 by Israeli bombings and military operations.
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