| April 2023 Nablus Incursion | |
| Date: | 3 April 2023 |
| Place: | Nablus, West Bank |
| Reported Death(S): | 2 |
| Reported Injuries: | dozens |
| Perpetrator: | Israeli army |
| Suspects: | Mohammad Abu Baker al-Junaidi and Mohammad Saeed Nasser |
On 3 April 2023, the Israeli army conducted a military operation in Nablus, resulting in the death of two Palestinians and injuries to several others. The operation was in response to allegations that two armed fighters were involved in the shooting of two Israeli settlers in Huwara in February.[1] [2]
The raid was part of a larger trend of increased violence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem over the preceding year. Israeli forces had been conducting frequent arrest raids in Palestinian areas, while Palestinians had carried out attacks against Israelis, leading to the deaths of over 90 Palestinians and 15 Israelis in the same period.[3] [4]
The two men killed during the operation were identified as Mohammad Abu Baker al-Junaidi, the Fatah party's secretary-general in the village of Juneid, and Mohammad Saeed Nasser, a member of the Lions' Den group. Two others, Izz al-Din Touqan and Nidal Tabanja, were apprehended during the raid for allegedly aiding al-Junaidi and Nasser.[3]
The killing of the two Palestinians during the Nablus raid was condemned, with Palestinian factions and the governor of Nablus calling for a strike in the city to protest the killings. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh denounced the deaths, stating that they were part of a "systematic policy embraced" by the Israeli occupation. During the raid, Israeli forces fired tear gas, injuring dozens of people in the al-Makhfiyeh neighborhood.[3]
The Israeli army has said that its forces fired back after being attacked during the raid. Nablus and nearby Jenin had seen increased incursions by Israel over the preceding year, following a popular Palestinian uprising known as the "May outburst" that spread throughout the Palestinian territories and Israel, which it has occupied since 1967.[1]