Israel launches air strikes as 10 Palestines killed in West Bank raid
Israel launched an airstrike on Gaza as Palestinian militants fired rockets at southern Israel on Thursday morning after a deadly raid, renewing fears of escalating violence in the West Bank.
The strikes came hours after a deadly gun battle with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank killed 10 Palestinians, including a teenager, Palestinian sources said.
More than 100 people were injured, they said.
The violence has come in the first weeks of Israel's new far-right government, which has promised to take a tough line against the Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hardline government has also pledged to ramp up settlement construction on lands Palestinians seek for their future state.
The raid in Nablus was one of the deadliest in nearly a year of fighting in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and raised concerns of further violence.
Among those killed were Palestinian men aged 72 and 61, and a 16-year-old boy, according to health officials. A 66-year-old man was also said to have died from tear gas inhalation.
Several Palestinian militant groups claimed six of the dead as members.
Israeli police said they were on heightened alert, while the Hamas militant group in Gaza said its patience was “running out.” Islamic Jihad, another militant group, vowed to retaliate.
In response to the raid, a strike was called across the West Bank and schools, universities and shops all shut down in protest. Schools and universities were shuttered in Gaza. Most shops in east Jerusalem were also closed.
Later, Palestinian militants fired six rockets from the Gaza Strip towards southern Israel, five of which were intercepted by Israel's military defences, the Israeli military said.
Israeli aircraft struck several targets in northern and central Gaza, including a weapons manufacturing site and a military compound belonging to the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza, the Israeli military said.
There were no reports of injuries in Israel or Gaza. The rocket attacks were not immediately claimed by Palestinian militant groups.
Israel's airstrikes damaged a centuries-old marketplace in Nablus, a city known as a militant stronghold.
One of the paramedics attending a mortally wounded patient at the scene realised he was his father. An amateur video showed two apparently unarmed men being shot as they ran in the street.
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of the year.
Palestinian attacks on Israelis in 2023 have killed 11 people.
Israel has been carrying out stepped-up arrest raids of wanted militants in the West Bank since a series of deadly Palestinian attacks in Israel last spring.
Israel says the raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and prevent future attacks.
The Israeli military said it entered Nablus, the West Bank’s commercial centre, to arrest three militants suspected in previous shooting attacks. The main suspect was wanted in the killing of an Israeli soldier last autumn.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is dominated by ultranationalists who have pushed for tougher action against Palestinian militants and vowed to entrench Israeli rule in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli media have quoted top security officials as expressing concern that this could lead to even more violence as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan approaches.
Last year, nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in those areas, making it the deadliest year there since 2004, according to figures by the Israeli rights group B’Tselem. Some 30 people on the Israeli side were killed in Palestinian attacks.
Israel says most of those killed were militants. But youths protesting the raids and others not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for their hoped-for independent state.