Palestinians mourn killing of militants in Nablus amidst violent reactions in West Bank

Thousands of Palestinians took part on Tuesday in the funeral of three Palestinian militants killed by Israeli forces in Nablus.

General strike was declared on Wednesday in the West Bank as a sign of mourning. Shops and businesses were reportedly shot down, as universities announced the suspension of classes.

Violence was reported on Tuesday in the northern West Bank in the hours following the killing in Nablus, as Israeli settlers blocked several main roads in the region.

Nablus-based Palestinian civil activist Ghassan Daghlas, whose work focuses on settlements, told The New Arab that “groups of Israeli settlers blocked the main road south of Nablus, cutting off the north of the West Bank from the center, as well as the road west of Nablus.”

Daghlas added that “settlers attacked Palestinian cars with stones, while Palestinians gathered at the entrance of the town of Beita and clashed with settlers and with the Israeli army”.

Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers and forces lasted until after midnight, according to Dirar Abu Amr, a resident of the town of Burqa, near Nablus.

“Following the shooting in Nablus, settlers organized a march to the entrance of the town, while hundreds of people from the town marched to mourn the three young men killed in Nablus,” he told The New Arab.

“Clashes began in the afternoon at the entrance of Burqa, during which the Israeli army came and fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets at Palestinians”.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced that 54 Palestinians were either injured with rubber-coated bullets or choked with tear gas in the clashes south of Nablus.

Clashes were also reported in the old city of Hebron on Tuesday afternoon, between Palestinians who demonstrated against the killing of the three men in Nablus, and Israeli forces.

Palestinian media also reported two shootings at Israeli forces near Jenin and another shooting at the outpost located on Mount Sabih, in the town of Beita, south of Nablus. The Israeli army reported no casualties.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a dissident military wing of the Fatah movement led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, announced in a statement that the three men killed by Israeli forces in Nablus were their members.

The Israeli Shin Bet security service said that the three men had recently carried out shooting attacks against Israeli targets, including settlers.

The Palestinian government and the Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the killing of the three men on Wednesday, calling it ‘a crime of extra-judicial execution’.