Israel's 'massacre' in Nablus foments anger for Palestinians in Gaza

Dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday gathered at the eastern fence of Gaza city to demonstrate against the Israeli forces stationed there in solidarity with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Raising Palestinian flags, the protestors set fire to tires and threw stones at the Israeli army while chanting against Israel's crimes in the occupied West Bank, particularly the cities of Nablus and Jenin.

Mohammed al-Harazeen, one of the protesters, told The New Arab, "Israel will not stop its crimes against our brothers in the West Bank if our resistance stays silent more."

"We are here to convey our message not only to Israel but also to Hamas and the Palestinians factions that it is time to punish the so-called Israeli state," said the 22-year-old man.

"Hamas and all Palestinian factions must punish Israel in all its cities and settlements as well as in the West Bank," he urged, adding that "we have to put all the Israelis under threats as their radical government does with us."

"We are alone in the confrontation with Israel as the world is busy with their internal crises, so we have the right to defend ourselves by all our means," Fahmi Abu Mughazi, another protester, said to TNA.

In turn, the Israeli army fired tear gas at the protestors and demanded that the protesters leave or the army will open fire on them.

On Wednesday evening, another demonstration was held in Gaza, based on an invitation issued by Hamas, to express rejection of the Israeli "aggression."

During the demonstration, the participants carried Palestinian flags and portraits of the Nablus victims, calling on the armed factions to escalate the situation in the occupied West Bank and embrace a military policy against all the Israeli soldiers who would harm Palesinians anywhere in the Palestinian Territories.

The demonstrations occurred in response to the Israeli army killing of at least 11 Palestinians, including three fighters of "the Lions' Den" in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, during a deadly raid on the old town in Nablus city to arrest Palestinian resistance fighters Wednesday morning.

"As the occupation forces withdrew, residents threw all sorts of things on them, from chairs to garbage cans to vegetables, as a simple way to alleviate the sense of incapacity and humiliation," said a resident.https://t.co/RqqHK6xlF2

— Qassam Muaddi (@QassaMMuaddi) February 22, 2023

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement that 11 Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers, including an old man and a 14-year-old boy, during an Israeli army military operation in the city of Nablus.

At least 102 Palestinians were also injured, including multiple who remain in severe condition, including three Palestinian journalists.

The Israeli army claimed that an operation was underway in Nablus, a militant stronghold that is frequently raided by the Israeli forces but did not provide further information immediately.

Local sources and eyewitnesses said that an Israeli army force backed by armored vehicles stormed the outskirts of the old city of Nablus and surrounded a house to arrest several Palestinians wanted by Israeli security.

They said that the wanted Palestinians were armed, and exchanged fire with the soldiers who surrounded the building, adding that several explosions and intensive gunfire were heard throughout the city.

Israeli troops killed ten Palestinians, including an elderly man and a teenager, after storming the Al-Souq Al-Sharqi area of Nablushttps://t.co/av2GB5MBqt

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) February 23, 2023

Meanwhile, clashes broke out in the city's streets between dozens of Palestinians, who threw stones and empty bottles, and the soldiers, who opened fire at the demonstrators to disperse them. 

The killing sparked official Palestinian condemnation as well as popular anger in Gaza.

Abu Obeida, the masked military spokesman of al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a short statement that "resistance in Gaza is observing the escalating occupation crimes in the West Bank."

"The patience of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza is running out," he vowed.

Dawood Shihab, a spokesman of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said in a press statement that the continuation of the "aggressive war puts calm in the wind," stressing that the Palestinian resistance factions "will not forfeit their right to respond to this brutal aggression."

As a result, the Israeli army strengthened the deployment of the Iron Dome system in southern Israel, fearing that rockets would be launched from the Gaza Strip after the events in Nablus.

Since the beginning of 2023, the Israeli army killed at least 61 Palestinians, including minors, a woman and two elderly people, according to official statistics issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.