10 Palestinians killed, over 100 injured during Israeli military’s raid in West Bank

At least 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 injured after a deadly Israeli military raid against the armed Palestinian groups in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.The military operation was part of a plan to arrest Palestinian gunmen based in Nablus city, the Israeli military said. In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency said that the operation targeted three suspects who were said to be “planning attacks in the immediate future.”

A spokesman for the Israeli Army, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, said that Wednesday’s operation began after its forces entered Nablus to arrest members of the Lions’ Den, a local armed group that was planning imminent assaults and that was also responsible for an attack that killed an Israeli soldier in October, New York Times newspaper reported. The gunbattle lasted for around four hours.

Russia-Ukraine war: What's happening on the battlefield? Know here

The Islamic Jihad militant group said two of its commanders were killed, whereas the Lion’s Den militant group confirmed that its members were involved in the fighting, but did not say if any of their members were killed.

Among the killed, seven appeared to be non-combatants, while the rest were from armed militant groups, the New York Times newspaper claimed.

Six of the dead were men in their 20s, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. One was 16, one was 33, one was 61 and one was 72. All were men, the ministry said.

Wednesday’s military action sparked tensions in the region, with Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, warning that the killings would not pass “without a response.”

Since the start of the year, nearly 60 Palestinians have been killed, including the Wednesday deaths, in West Bank. Most of them were during shootouts that the Israeli military says began during operations to arrest Palestinian gunmen.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE