NABLUS, West Bank (HRNW) – Six Palestinians, including a leader of a rising militant group, were killed on Tuesday after Israeli forces raided the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, setting off one of the largest firefights in weeks, Palestinian officials said.
Forces including snipers, soldiers with shoulder-fired missiles and Shin Bet intelligence agents were deployed across Nablus, battling dozens of armed fighters as well as people throwing stones and burning tyres, the military said.
Shards of glass and scrap metal covered the cobblestone of the Old City as shopkeepers cleared debris in the aftermath of the raid which the military said targeted an explosives manufacturing site of the “Den of Lions” militant group.
The military said 31-year-old Wadi’ al-Houh, a “Den of Lions” leader who it said was responsible for producing pipe bombs and obtaining weapons for the group, was targeted and killed in the operation.
The “Den of Lions”, a group of mainly young Nablus gunmen with loose factional affiliations, has grown rapidly over the past year and fought repeated clashes with Israeli forces as violence has surged across the West Bank in recent months.