The Israeli military carried out a major military operation targeting various towns and villages in the northern West Bank.
Israeli occupation forces stormed several cities and towns in the occupied West Bank, allegedly in search for a Palestinian accused of carrying out a deadly attack near the town of Huwwara.
Several Palestinians were wounded in the Israeli raids.
Meanwhile rightwing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to arrest the Palestinian attacker, who killed two armed settlers at a car wash, just outside Huwwara, in the northern occupied West Bank.
For his part, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the occupation army to carry out a new military operation in the West Bank, to restore what he called deterrence and security.
For several months, the Israeli military has carried out major operations targeting Palestinian Resistance in various Palestinian towns and refugee camp.
One of the deadliest raids targeted the town and refugee camp of Jenin on July 3-4, where 12 Palestinians were killed and over 140 wounded.
Several minors were killed in the raid and many others were wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Visiting Huwwara: The Palestinian Town Torched by Illegal Israeli Settlers
The Attack
The Israeli statements and threats followed a Palestinian attack on Saturday, targeting two armed Israelis at a car wash in Huwwara, near Nablus.
The two Israelis were seriously wounded, before the military declared them dead.
The Israeli military occupation quickly mobilized and began major raids on Palestinian towns and villages in the area, including the major city of Nablus.
At dawn on Sunday, the Israeli occupation forces stormed several cities and towns in the West Bank, and more than 20 Palestinians were hospitalized because of tear gas inhalation.
لحظة تنفيذ #عــــمـــلـــية_حوارة pic.twitter.com/gScmRqpI3W
— زيـ𓂆🇵🇸ــنب (@zynbzyn88160595) August 19, 2023
Video Released
Israel’s Channel 11 had aired a video from a camera installed at a car wash station in Huwwara, allegedly of the attack.
The unclear footage seemed to show a man opening fires at two individuals before fleeing the area.
It also showed the car wash worker as he runs away from the scene in the opposite direction.
In their search for the attacker, the Israeli military has reported wounded a Jewish settler near the village of Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya, between Nablus and Ramallah at dawn on Sunday.
The settler was injured by the Israeli military, which opened fire at a group of Jewish settlers who were suspected of being Palestinian.
The Israeli occupation forces raided the city and the refugee camp of Tulkarm in the West Bank, resulting in violent confrontations.
According to the Palestinian news agency, WAFA, four Palestinians were injured, one by live ammunition in the face, another by shrapnel in the hand, and two others were run over by an Israeli military vehicle while riding a motorcycle.
The Israeli army also claimed that the Iron Dome was able to intercept a drone coming from the besieged Gaza Strip.
Next door to Huwara which is under siege right now https://t.co/mTerL73wEd
— Lamis Deek لميس ديك (@Lamis_Deek) August 19, 2023
‘Erasing Huwwara’
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority warned against the violent language used by the settlers, such as “erasing Huwwara”, which was the rallying cry that preceded the pogrom last February.
In February dozens of Palestinian homes and hundreds of cars were set ablaze by large mobs of armed Jewish settlers.
The pogrom also resulted in the murder of a Palestinian humanitarian worker and the wounded of many others.
The APA said calls for the erasure of Huwwara is a direct public incitement to commit genocide massacres against Palestinian citizens, supported by top Israeli government officials.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry held the Israeli government fully and directly responsible for the violations and crimes of settlers against Palestinian citizens, their land, properties, homes, vehicles, and holy sites, throughout the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Since the start of the year nearly 230 Palestinians were killed in the ongoing Israeli violence.
The killing of the two Israelis in Huwwara raised the number of Israelis – soldiers and settlers – killed during the same period to 34.
(PC, AJA, WAFA)
