Israeli forces arrest two Palestinian gunmen after hours-long battle, two Israeli settlers injured in Nablus

Around 30 Palestinians were wounded between Monday night and Tuesday morning during confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli forces in Nablus, while two Israeli settlers were injured.
 
Late Monday night, two Israeli settlers were injured by Palestinian gunmen while they attempted to enter the "Josphef's Tomb" religious site in eastern Nablus. Israeli army forces soon arrived and evacuated them.
 
Later  Tuesday morning, Israeli forces raided the village of Raujib, near Nablus city, injuring 25 Palestinians, including three with live ammunition, and arrested two.

مواجهات عنيفة في روجيب صباح اليوم خلال حصار منزل صالحية. تصوير هشام ابو شقرة @anadoluagency pic.twitter.com/ir63yz25Ni

— Hisham Abu Shaqrah هشام أبو شقرة (@HShaqrah) August 30, 2022

"Israeli settlers usually enter Nablus escorted by Israeli forces in large numbers and after informing Palestinian authorities," Ameen Abu Wardeh, resident of eastern Nablus, told The New Arab.
 
"This time there were only two settlers and they were ambushed by Palestinian gunmen," he said. "They were first injured, then left their car and hid nearby, while Palestinian youth set the car on fire."
 
"Israeli forces then intervened and evacuated the two settlers, shooting at Palestinians and wounding four with live fire," Abu Wardeh added.

Palestinian fighters opened gunfire last night at five Israeli settlers who were on their way to Joseph's Tomb in Nablus North #Palestine, injuring two of them, one seriously, and torching their vehicle shortly before an IOF force arrived at the scene and evacuated them. pic.twitter.com/RXdMgutSQP

— A Palestinian 𓂆 🇵🇸🦅 (@PalestineWonder) August 30, 2022

 In Raujib, a few kilometres southeast of Nablus, Israeli forces launched a military raid a few hours after the incident in Nablus city.
 
"Shortly after morning prayer, Israeli armoured vehicles entered the village and headed directly to a specific house," Hani Rawajbeh, mayor of Raujib, told The New Arab.
 
"Israeli troops sealed off a one-kilometre parameter area around the house and then began to exchange fire with two young men inside," described Rawajbeh.
 
"Israeli soldiers fired ground missiles at the building and a lot of live fire until the father of one of the young men called on them through a loudspeaker to give themselves in, and so they did," the mayor added.
 
The two men are Nabil Sawallhi and Nihad Aweis, both from the Balata refugee camp in Nablus city, whom Israeli forces accuse of having shot at an Israeli military vehicle on Friday.
 
"After the men were detained, Israeli soldiers detonated the top three floors of the building then withdrew from the village," the mayor said. "Life is completely paralysed in Raujib for the rest of the day, including schools and businesses."

The moment when Israeli occupation forces bombed a Palestinian house with missiles during a military raid into the village of Rujeib, east of Nablus, where 25 Palestinians were reported injured. pic.twitter.com/9yejox4AzN

— V PALESTINE 🇵🇸 (@V_Palestine20) August 30, 2022

According to the Israeli media, the Israeli military police claim that the two men opened fire at Israeli forces who sought to arrest them. According to Israeli reports, the gunfight lasted several hours, a settlement guard car was damaged, and no injuries.
 
The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said in a statement that Sawalhi and Aweis are members of its "Nablus brigade" and that they surrendered after running out of ammunition.
 
The escalation in Nablus comes only a day after Israeli forces wounded eight Palestinians in Qabatiya, near Jenin, and arrested a Palestinian militant after an hour and a half long gunfight. The PIJ also identified the arrested gunman as its member.

Pictures documenting the damage resulted to the house that was besieged and bombed by the lsraeli occupation forces in Rujeib, Nablus. pic.twitter.com/DTId99sv2H

— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) August 30, 2022

Israeli forces have escalated their raids in the northern West Bank following the Gilboa prison break, where Palestinian armed militancy against Israeli forces has also increased.
 
Earlier in August, Israel's arrest of a PIJ senior leader in Jenin refugee camp, Bassam Al-Saadi, led to a four-day escalation between Israel and the PIJ armed wing in the Gaza Strip, where 47 Palestinians we killed by Israeli air strikes.