IDF: 2 soldiers lightly injured by Palestinian gunfire during raid in Nablus
Military says wanted Palestinian man detained in West Bank city, another 3 in other areas; troops still searching for terrorists who killed Israeli-British sisters
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
An Israeli soldier and officer were lightly hurt after coming under fire in the northern West Bank city of Nablus during an overnight counterterrorism operation, the military said Monday morning.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, after troops arrested one wanted Palestinian, gunmen opened fire at forces as they were exiting the city, hitting two military vehicles.
An IDF soldier and officer were hurt by shrapnel and taken to a hospital in Israel, where they were listed in good condition, the military said.
Amid the operation in Nablus to detain the Palestinian suspected of involvement in terror activities, the IDF said suspects hurled explosive devices and stones at troops.
The Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news agency, citing medical sources, said two Palestinians were moderately hurt by shrapnel following Israeli gunfire.
In videos circulating online, gunfire could be heard across the city.
Al-Ain Camp, Nablus
Palestinian fighters clash with Israeli occupation forces incursing the city. pic.twitter.com/zGcFjnlFdc
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) April 10, 2023
The IDF said three other wanted Palestinians were detained in other areas of the West Bank during the overnight raids, and a makeshift submachine gun was seized in the town of Kafr Ni’ma, near Ramallah.
The four were handed over to the Shin Bet security agency for further questioning.
Troops meanwhile were still searching for the Palestinian terrorists who carried out a deadly shooting attack in the Jordan Valley on Friday, and they were thought to be hiding in the northern West Bank.
The car apparently used by the terrorists who killed Israeli-British sisters 20-year-old Maia Dee and 15-year-old Rina Dee, and critically wounded their mother, 48-year-old Lucy Dee, was found on Sunday by Palestinian Authority security forces in Nablus.
Locals in Nablus claimed the Volkswagen Passat, which has Israeli license plates, was found in the northern West Bank city two days after the deadly shooting attack. The unverified reports said the car was taken by PA officials for inspection.
Images showed the plates match the car seen in surveillance camera footage shortly after the attack.
The raid early Monday came as tensions have soared across the region in recent days, with a rocket attack from Syria on Saturday night; a barrage of rockets from Lebanon on Thursday; tit-for-tat rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Israeli strikes over the past week; clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Temple Mount; terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank; and a suspected Iranian drone launched from Syria last week.
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have been high for the past year, with the IDF conducting near-nightly raids in the West Bank amid a series of deadly Palestinian terror attacks.
At least 89 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year, most of them while carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under circumstances that are being investigated.
Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank have left 18 people dead since the beginning of the year.
The Times of Israel Community.