3 Palestinians injured by Israeli army gunfire in West Bank raid

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Three Palestinians were injured late Wednesday when Israeli soldiers opened fire during a raid in the Old City of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said they were transferred to Rafidia Government Hospital in Nablus.

The ministry said that one of the victims sustained a serious gunshot wound to the back, while the other two suffered moderate injuries from gunshots to the leg and thigh.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society also issued a statement, accusing Israeli forces of directly firing on ambulances in Nablus.

An Israeli undercover unit disguised in civilian clothes entered the Old City followed by heavy gunfire, indicating armed clashes, witnesses told Anadolu.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Talaae al-Tahrir Nablus, a Palestinian resistance group, in a statement on Telegram claimed responsibility for targeting Israeli army forces with heavy gunfire and engaging in intense clashes.

In the past few years, the Israeli military has conducted regular raids in the West Bank, which have escalated with the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023. Palestinians have also been violently attacked by illegal Israeli settlers.

At least 835 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 6,700 injured by Israeli army gunfire in the occupied territory, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The escalation follows a landmark opinion in July last year by the International Court of Justice that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio