Two Palestinians were killed and others injured in an Israeli air strike on the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday, Palestinian media reported.
“Two men aged 18 and 20 were killed and seven people were injured, one seriously, in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus,” the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement.
The two men were identified as Ahmad Sheikh Khalil and Wael Masheh, according to the official Palestinian news agency. Wafasaid.
A woman and a child were among the injured. The incident was described as a drone attack.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) also confirmed that its staff had treated an injured person who was hit by an Israeli military jeep during a raid on the refugee camp, causing a broken hand.
At least four of the injured were injured by live ammunition, the PRCS said.
The Palestinian Hamas issued an official statement saying: “The criminal bombing carried out by a Zionist march at dawn today on a group of citizens in the Balata camp east of Nablus, which left two young men dead and several citizens, including a girl and a woman, injured, is a continuation of the brutal aggression of the Zionist occupation army against our people in the occupied West Bank.”
In an official statement, the Israeli military described the two Palestinians as militants and accused them of “posing a threat to the forces operating in the Nablus area.”
It was said that the attack took place when the army and police secured the settlers’ access to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus during the night.
Over the years, both the Israeli army and settlers have committed several acts of violence at Joseph’s Tomb, a religious site revered by Samaritans, Jews, Christians and Muslims, located in a densely populated area in eastern Nablus.
Violent incidents usually occur when Jewish settlers try to storm the site under the protection of the Israeli police.
With Thursday’s victims, the death toll in the West Bank since October 7 rises to 632.
Since the start of the military offensive in the Gaza Strip more than ten months ago, Israel has intensified its crackdown and violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
In addition, more than 10,000 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli police since October 7.
