Israeli forces have killed at least 11 Palestinians, including at least four gunmen and four civilians, and wounded over 100 others during a raid on a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank, according to witnesses, militant groups and medical officials.
The Israeli military confirmed the operation in Nablus, saying troops shot back after coming under fire on Wednesday (local time), while trying to detain militants suspected of planning imminent attacks.
There were no Israeli casualties, an army statement said.
Palestinian militant faction Islamic Jihad said two of its Nablus commanders had been encircled in a house by Israeli troops, triggering a clash that drew in other gunmen.
Explosions sounded and local youths pelted armoured personnel carriers with rocks.
According to Reuters, Palestinian sources said the two Islamic Jihad commanders were killed along with another gunman.
The fatalities also included four civilians, among them a 72-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy, according to the Reuters report.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said a 66-year-old man who suffered from gas inhalation during the raid later died in hospital.
Medical officials said more than 100 Palestinians were wounded.
According to the United Nations, it was the deadliest incident in the West Bank since that body started recording deaths in 2005.
Last month in the West Bank city of Jenin, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians — including at least seven militants and a 61-year-old woman.
A day after that raid, there was a reprisal attack in East Jerusalem, in which seven Israelis were killed outside a synagogue.
Since then, there have been repeated calls for both sides of the conflict to de-escalate the spike in violence.
A US State Department spokesperson said the US was extremely concerned by the levels of violence in Israel and the West Bank.
The spokesperson said Washington recognised Israel's security concerns, but was deeply concerned by the large number of injuries and loss of civilian life and feared the raid could set back efforts to restore calm.
Hamas hints at possible reprisals
Nablus and nearby Jenin have been a focus of raids that Israel has intensified over the last year following a spate of lethal Palestinian street attacks in its cities.
So far this year 62 Palestinians, including gunmen and civilians, have been killed, the Palestinian health ministry said.
According to Israel's foreign ministry, 10 Israelis and a Ukrainian tourist died in Palestinian attacks in the same period.
"We condemn the occupation's raid into Nablus and we call for an end to the continued attacks against our people," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas, another Palestinian militant group that sometimes fights alongside Islamic Jihad, said there were four gunmen killed, one from its own ranks, and hinted at possible reprisals from the Gaza Strip, a territory that it controls.
"The resistance in Gaza is monitoring the escalating crimes conducted by the enemy against our people in the occupied West Bank and is running out of patience," Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Hamas armed wing, said on Telegram.
Sirens rang out early on Thursday morning in southern Israeli towns as the military confirmed six rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israeli territory.
Shortly afterwards, explosions were heard in Gaza and the military confirmed it was striking targets in Gaza but it did not give more details.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have soared since Israel launched the raids last year following a spate of lethal attacks by Palestinians.
Israel says its raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks.
The Palestinians say they have further entrenched Israel's 55-year, open-ended occupation of lands they have been seeking for their future state.
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians claim the territories for their hoped-for future state.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad are sworn to Israel's destruction but have in the past observed Egyptian-mediated truces with it.
US-sponsored Palestinian statehood talks have been stalled for almost a decade.
Reuters/ABC
