Israeli forces conducted a massive raid in the town of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank in the early hours of Thursday, June 15. One Palestinian was killed and 337 were injured in the raid. Israeli forces also demolished one house through an explosion.
Reports said that hundreds of Israeli soldiers, accompanied by armored military vehicles and bulldozers, illegally invaded the city in order to demolish the home of a Palestinian prisoner who is accused of being involved in an armed confrontation with the Israeli army which led to the death of one Israeli soldier.
The man killed during the raid was identified by the Palestinian Health Ministry as 20-year-old Khalil Yahya al-Anis. The cause of death was reported to be a gunshot wound. The Israeli army fired live ammunition on Palestinian civilians protesting the raid. They also used rubber-coated metal bullets, concussion grenades, and tear gas canisters to attack the protesters. One Palestinian was reportedly rammed by an army jeep.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), around 180 people suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation and were given medical treatment. Three Palestinians suffered life-threatening gunshot injuries, of whom one was in a critical condition in hospital.
The violent raid lasted for about six hours. Palestinian resistance fighters retaliated by firing at the Israeli soldiers. Palestinian civilians also resisted by throwing stones at the occupation forces.
The Israeli forces ultimately demolished the house with explosives after evicting several members of the prisoner’s family including his elderly parents and sister. They also forcibly removed the eight other families living in the building in the middle of the night. The home was located in the Rafidya neighborhood of Nablus and was on the fourth floor of a five-story building.
The Israeli policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinians accused of crimes has received widespread condemnation from human rights groups and the international community as a form of “collective punishment.”
According to UN statistics, since the beginning of this year, Israeli government authorities have demolished a total of 396 Palestinian homes and displaced 619 Palestinians in defiance of international law. In the same period, Israeli forces, along with extremist settlers living in illegal settlements built on occupied land, have killed at least 161 Palestinians, including 26 children, in the West Bank and Gaza. Of these, 122 have been killed in raids and other similar violent confrontations.
