NABLUS: Israeli troops killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry said, the latest deaths in a surge of violence in the territory since early last year.

“Three Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bullets in Nablus,” the ministry said. Palestinian group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said the three were its members.

The Israeli army claimed three “armed terrorists” had opened fire on its soldiers from a vehicle in a Nablus neighbourhood and the troops fired back “to neutralise” them. The soldiers recovered three M-16 rifles, a gun, cartridges and other military equipment, the army added in a statement.

The Palestinian health ministry identified the victims as Nour al-Deen al-Ardah, 32, Montaser Sal­ameh, 33, and Saad al-Kharaz, 43.

Hamas claims victims were its members

Hamas said the three were members of its Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades wing. “We mourn our heroic Qassam martyrs who died this morning in an armed clash with the occupation forces in Nablus,” Hamas said in a statement.

The Palestinian president’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said the killing of the three men amounted to a “war crime”. “Israeli crimes will not bring our people to their knees, and will not bring security and stability to anyone,” he said in a statement.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967.

Since early last year, the territory has seen a string of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli targets, as well as violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities.

Violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict this year has killed at least 201 Palestinians, 27 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on both sides.

They include, on the Palestinian side, combatants as well civilians and, on the Israeli side, three members of the Arab minority.

Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the West Bank is home to nearly three million Palestinians, as well as around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements which are illegal under international law.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2023