A Palestinian in red cap descends into the narrow alley of the old town of Nablus towards a group of Israeli soldiers, clearly unarmed.
He tries to speak to the soldiers, who had flooded the city of West Bank occupied in the early hours of Tuesday as part of the last military raid in Israel – considered the most important in Naplus in two years.
The soldiers strike and immediately push the man – Nidal Umairah, 40 years old – before his brother approached, trying to intervene. The shots follows, and soon the two brothers died.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbnsbziu0i8
Nidal and his brother, 35 -year -old, Khaled, were the last victims of Israel in the West Bank, after being killed late on Tuesday. Witnesses were categorical that the behavior of Israeli soldiers was an unnecessary escalation which led to the death of Palestinians even more.
Ghassan Hamdan, director of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society in Naplus, was at the scene of the murders.
“There were at least 12 soldiers and they all pulled their automatic machine guns at the same time,” said Hamdan.
After the two men fell on the ground (the doctors) asked soldiers if we could treat their injuries. They answered by shooting us all. »»
“We all hid behind the walls of the old town,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Hamza Abu Hajar, a paramedical ambulancer on the scene, said that Umairah’s brother who had initially approached Israeli soldiers had tried to go to his home to keep his family away and far from the Israeli raid.
“They raised his shirt to prove that he was not armed,” said Abu Hajar. “They then started shooting him and us too.”
The Israeli army said it had acted in self-defense after one of the Umairah brothers tried to grab a soldier’s weapon. He said four soldiers were injured in the incident.
Cisjordanie raids
The raid in Nablus, which lasted more than 24 hours, is the last Israel in the West Bank.
Israel took advantage of the world’s emphasis on its own war against Gaza since October 2023 to intensify its flight of land and its violence in the West Bank.
During this period, Israel killed at least 930 people in the West Bank, 24 of whom came from Naplus, according to the United Nations Bureau for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Many of these deaths are the result of violent Israeli raids aimed at studying the Palestinian fighters in the West Bank, but who have resulted in mass destruction and thousands of Palestinians fleeing their houses.
According to Hamdan, Israeli troops mainly targeted the old town of Nablus, storming in hundreds of houses in the middle of the night. Dozens of people were also said to have been arrested.
The young people of the city protested by burning tires and throwing stones at Israeli troops, but they met heavy tear gas, injuring at least 80 Palestinians during the raid.
In the past, Palestinian demonstrators have been imprisoned for accusations of “terrorism” or shotable for having simply resisted the occupation of Israel by throwing stones or challenging Israeli soldiers.
This time, the Israelis classified the entire old town of Nablus as a closed military zone for 24 hours. No ambulance or doctor was authorized inside to help residents in difficulty, said Hamdan.
“No one has been allowed to enter or get out. No one has been allowed to make movement at all. We (as doctors) could not enter the region throughout the raid to try to help people in need,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Assault and vandalism
During the raid, Israeli troops broke into several apartments after blowing door hinges with explosives.
Umm Hassan *, a 58 -year -old resident who did not want to give him a full name, remembers being terrified when several Israeli soldiers broke into her house.
About five months ago, her husband died of cancer, a disease that also claimed two of her children years ago.
Umm Hassan also fights against cancer, but she said that Israeli soldiers showed her mercy.
They overturned his television on the floor, broke windows and threw his paintings on the walls and on the floor of the living room.
They even vandalized his books by throwing them on the ground, including the Koran.
“I told them to leave me alone. I was alone and so frightened. There was no one to protect me,” Umm Hassan told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Another woman, Rola *, said that Israeli soldiers entered her house twice in six hours during the raid.
When Israeli soldiers returned the second time, Rola said that they had attacked his elderly father, striking him on his head and chest with the butts of their weapons.
Rola described her three nieces and nephews – all the little children – curling up with fear while Israeli soldiers have vandalized and destroyed their house.
“The second time they came to us, they put us in a room and we could not leave the room from 8 am to 3:30 pm,” said Rola.
“We (Palestinians) always talk about being resilient. But the reality is when the Israeli soldiers enter your private house, so you are very afraid. It is natural. We are humans and humans are afraid,” she told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Psychological war
More than 80 Palestinians received treatment from Palestine Red Crescent Society during the Raid, including 25 following ball injuries.
While Israel says that his raid was “precise”, the inhabitants of Naplus say that the attack on the city was the last attempt to intimidate and frighten the Palestinians.
“Honestly, who were Israeli soldiers looking for my home?” What did they think they were going to find? ” asked Rola. “The reason for their raids (violence) is to maintain the occupation (illegal).”
Some names have been modified to protect sources of reprisals
