Palestinian sources confirmed that the man who carried out the operation was 31-year-old Mohammed Manasra, from the Qalandiya refugee camp.
Two Israeli settlers were killed on Thursday in a shooting operation at a gas station at the entrance to the illegal Israeli Jewish settlement of Eli, near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli media reported.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted the Magen David Adom emergency services as saying that the two were in a car when they were shot.
The two were critically injured, before they were pronounced dead a short time later.
Palestinian sources confirmed that the man who carried out the operation was 31-year-old Mohammed Manasra, from the Qalandiya refugee camp.
According to Haaretz, Manasra was close to the Palestinian movement Fatah and served as an officer in the Palestinian police. He was reportedly shot and killed at the scene.
#BREAKING | Israeli media: 2 Israeli illegal settlers were killed in an operation at the "Eli" settlement in southern Nablus, occupied #WestBank. pic.twitter.com/uV6ijTJAqY
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) February 29, 2024
Following the operation, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that he will demand stronger action in the West Bank at Thursday’s cabinet meeting. This “requires the IDF to close roads, return the checkpoints and massively develop settlement as an appropriate Zionist answer,” Smotrich said, according to Haaretz.
For its part, the Palestinian Resistance congratulated the “heroic operation” and called “for an escalation of the confrontation.”
Hamas Hails Operation
In a statement, the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas said that “the continuous massacres by the occupation against our steadfast and resilient people, especially in Gaza Strip, and the last horrific massacre last night at Al-Nabulsi roundabout in Gaza City, will not remain without a response and accountability from the heroes of our people and their resistance.”
Over 100 Palestinians were killed and over 700 wounded when Israeli forces shelled hundreds of Palestinians awaiting humanitarian aid, south of Gaza City in an area close to the Al-Nablusi roundabout.
BREAKING | Shooting operation at a gas station in the "Eli" settlement south of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus leaves two Israeli settlers dead. pic.twitter.com/95xehlf2Mm
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) February 29, 2024
The statement continued,
“We also affirm that the continued rampage of the occupation in Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque, and its plans to restrict worshippers and prevent them from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque during the blessed month of Ramadan, will be an additional detonator that ignites the land under the occupiers’ feet.”
Death Toll Rises
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 30,035 Palestinians have been killed, and 70,457 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Massacre at Food Line – Israel Kills, Wounds Nearly 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire.’
(The Palestine Chronicle)
