Palestinians suspected of shooting attack surrender to troops after Nablus gunfight

Two Palestinian gunmen suspected of shooting at a security vehicle in the West Bank over the weekend surrendered to Israeli troops after a lengthy gunbattle on the outskirts of Nablus on Tuesday morning.

Nabeel Sawalhi and Nihad Owais, holed up in a building in the town of Rujeib adjacent to the northern West Bank city of Nablus, opened fire on Israeli troops who sought to arrest them, Border Police said.

For several hours the sides exchanged fire, with the Yamam counterterrorism police unit launching small missiles at the building and officers from the Shin Bet security agency calling via loudspeaker to the pair to hand themselves over.

At one point the father of one of the suspects approached the building and the pair began to emerge with their hands above their heads, and then were arrested, footage showed.

According to police, during a search of the home an M-16 rifle, a handgun, ammunition, grenades, and pipe bombs were seized.

Amid the operation, Palestinian rioters hurled stones at Israeli forces operating in the area. The Israel Defense Forces and Border Police said no troops were hurt.

#شاهد لحظة قصف جيش الاحتلال للمنزل المحاصر في منطقة روجيب شرقي #نابلس حيث الاشتباكات المتواصلة في المكان pic.twitter.com/KaM0V9HogX

— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) August 30, 2022

https://twitter.com/alyawmnewspal/status/1564511213928718338?s=20&t=_DlMElJOYD9HGxu_rv9E8Q

Sawalhi and Owais are accused of Friday night’s attack in which an Israeli security vehicle came under fire near the settlement of Shavei Shomron in the northern West Bank.

No one was injured in the attack, though the car belonging to the settlement’s security team was damaged.

#صورة تجمع أسرى اشتباك المنزل في منطقة روجيب شرق #نابلس هم نبيل الصوالحي و نهاد عويص. pic.twitter.com/yRr3p0ui8E

— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) August 30, 2022

In separate raids across the West Bank, the IDF said, troops arrested another 10 wanted Palestinians.

The incident in Rujeib came hours after two Israelis were moderately injured when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on their car near the entrance to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.

The IDF said the Israeli civilians — Jewish worshipers —  had failed to coordinate their pilgrimage to the site with the military. After they were shot at, they were extracted by Israeli soldiers.

Tensions have escalated in the West Bank, with Israeli security forces stepping up arrest raids and operations following a deadly wave of terror attacks against Israelis that left 19 people dead earlier this year.

On Monday morning, troops arrested a wanted member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group after a similar gun battle in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya.

The terror group said Alaa Zakarna “refused to surrender” until he ran out of ammunition, and eventually turned himself in.