Description

Photos:
Scene. Published by IMEMC News

The scene where officials say a Palestinian gunman opened fire at an Israeli vehicle, wounding two people, in the West Bank town of Hawara, Sunday. Credit: Majdi Mohammed /AP Published by Haaretz
______

Israeli Soldiers Injure Many Palestinians In Nablus

by IMEMC News
March 26, 2023

On Saturday evening, Israeli soldiers injured many Palestinians in several parts of the Nablus governorate in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its medics rushed a Palestinian from Deir Sharaf town, northwest of Nablus, to a hospital after the soldiers assaulted him and maced him with pepper spray.

It added that the soldiers also fired many gas bombs and concussion grenades, causing several Palestinians to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation.

In Huwwara town, south of Nablus, many colonizers gathered at two main intersections and attacked Palestinian cars in front of Israeli soldiers who stood there and watched.

Protests were also reported in Kafr Qalil village, south of Nablus after several army jeeps invaded it.

In Beita town, south of Nablus, the soldiers assaulted a young man who suffered a fracture in his leg before the local medics rushed him to a hospital in Nablus.
_____

by IMEMC News
March 26, 2023

On Saturday evening, two Israeli soldiers, including one who suffered serious wounds, were shot in a shooting attack in Huwwara town, south of Nablus, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.

Israeli sources have confined that two combat soldiers were shot and added that one suffered serious wounds and the other suffered moderate injuries.

They added that the two soldiers, in their twenties, were rushed to an Israeli medical center.

The Palestinian fighters fired at the soldiers from a moving car and sped away, leading to a manhunt.

The army is still searching Huwwara and surrounding areas, closing many intersections, isolating Palestinian communities, and invading Beita town.

The fighters opened fire at several military vehicles that invaded Huwwara, wounding the two soldiers.

The army closed Huwwara and many surrounding Palestinian communities and installed several additional roadblocks.

The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), claimed responsibility for the shooting.

In a statement, the Brigades said, “Our fighter managed to target a Zionist army force near Huwwara roadblock and fled the scene.”

The Brigades also called on the Palestinian people and all factions to unite and form a strong resistance front.
______

Two Israeli Soldiers Reported Wounded in Shooting in Hawara

PFLP claims responsibility for the attack ■ The West Bank city has seen shootings of Israelis and revenge attacks by settlers in past months, including a pogrom that left over 100 injured

by Yaniv Kubovich, Hagar Shezaf, Ido Efrati, and Jack Khoury for Haaretz
Mar 25, 2023

Two Israeli soldiers were wounded in a shooting in the West Bank city of Hawara, the Israeli military reported on Saturday night. In response, settlers entered a village near Nablus, injuring one Palestinian at a restaurant and leading to its evacuation, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported.

According to a statement from the military, a group of soldiers who were at a military station were shot at from a passing car. One soldier was seriously wounded; another was moderately wounded. They were evacuated to a hospital.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's paramilitary Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades took credit for the attack. The organization called on Palestinians to close ranks and continue to fight together on the ground.

The army said that it is searching the area for the perpetrators and setting up roadblocks at the entrances and exits of the nearby city of Nablus.

The Lion's Den military group, which is based in Nablus, praised the attack, writing in a message that it has "come to avenge the blood of the organization's dead."

Settlers are holding several protests in the West Bank in the wake of the shooting. A large group of them entered Hawara later Saturday night.

Likud Knesset Member Danny Danon, who previously served as Israel's representative to the United Nations, tweeted after the shooting that until Israel opens the long-proposed but long-delayed access road that would circumvent the town, "We must close the shops on the main road of the village and hermetically seal the path," he said.

Hawara sits along the West Bank's main highway, and Palestinians and Israeli settlers alike drive through it on a frequent basis. This is the second shooting this week at Israelis in the town, and the third this month.

On Monday, the Israeli army shuttered shops on Hawara's main thoroughfare after a Palestinian gunman opened fire on an Israeli man and his wife driving through the main road. Both of them survived the attack.

At the end of February, the town witnessed one of the most violent settler rampages in years. One Palestinian was killed, dozens were injured and vast amounts of property were damaged in the six-hour-long riot.

The riot followed the killing of two Israeli brothers from point-blank range on Hawara's main road by a Palestinian.

Israeli far-right political figures have drawn criticism for their statements about the West Bank town. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said earlier this month that Hwara should be "wiped out," a statement broadly criticized, including by the U.S. government. Smotrich later walked back the statement, which he made after the large-scale settler riot.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Otzma Yehudit Lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech shared a video titled “Questions and answers: Why Hawara should be wiped out” in a journalists’ WhatsApp group.

This is a developing story.

Features