At least 10 Palestinians killed, dozens injured in Israeli raid in West Bank

Israeli forces on Wednesday entered a major Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank in a rare daytime siege operation, sparking clashes that killed at least 10 Palestinians and wounded others.

The attack, which reduced buildings to rubble and left dozens of shops riddled with bullets, was one of the bloodiest battles in nearly a year of war. A 72-year-old man was among 10 killed, while 102 others were wounded, Palestinian officials said.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said six of the injured were in critical condition. A Palestinian militant group claimed three of the dead were members.

A similar attack last month was followed by a deadly attack outside a Jerusalem synagogue.

The Israeli military gave few details about the operation in the territory’s northern city of Nablus, known as a militant stronghold. The army often operates there in what it describes as a crackdown on militant groups.

The Israeli army usually conducts operations at night, when it says the risk of civilian casualties is lower. There were no immediate details on Wednesday’s raid, which happened just before noon.

In the Old City of Nablus, people looked at the ruins of what had been a large house in a casbah that had been there for centuries. From one side to the other, the shops were full of bullets. The parked cars were crushed. The cement rubble was stained with blood. Furniture from the destroyed house was scattered in the pile of debris.

Rough start to the year

Last month, the Israeli army killed 10 militants in a similar attack in the northern West Bank. The next day, a lone Palestinian gunman opened fire near a synagogue in an east Jerusalem settlement, killing seven people.

The following day, five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli arrest raid elsewhere in the West Bank. That was followed by a Palestinian car killing three Israelis, including two young brothers, in Jerusalem.

LISTENING | The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg on the unrest in Israel:

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The fighting comes at a sensitive time, less than two months after the hardline government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The government is dominated by ultranationalists who are pushing for tougher action against Palestinian militants. Israeli media have quoted top security officials as expressing concern that this could lead to more violence.

In the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for the ruling Hamas militant group issued a veiled threat.

“The resistance in Gaza has seen the enemy’s escalating crimes against our people in the occupied West Bank, and patience has run out,” said Abu Obeida, the group’s spokesman.

Israeli officials have expressed concern about rising tensions ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, which begins in March.

At least 55 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem this year, possibly surpassing last year’s death toll. Last year, nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, making it the deadliest year in the region since 2004, according to figures from the Israeli rights group B’Tselem.

Israel said most of those killed were militants, but others – including youths protesting the attack and others who did not take part in the confrontation – had also been killed.

Israel says the military offensive is intended to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks, while Palestinians see it as a 55-year occupation that exposes Israel. Israel seized the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Middle East war, areas sought by the Palestinians for their hoped-for independent state.