A RAID by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Nablus has injured dozens of Palestinians, as occupation forces shot live fire and tear gas at crowds during their latest act of aggression in the occupied Palestinian territories.
According to eyewitnesses cited by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, a large number of Israeli soldiers raided the eastern flank of Nablus from different directions in the early hours of Wednesday.
Clashes then broke out between dozens of young Palestinians and Israeli troops, with the latter firing bullets and tear gas, as Palestinians threw stones and Molotov cocktails, and closed off roads to prevent Israeli armoured vehicles from entering the city.
There were also reports of confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinian resistance fighters.
The Nablus Brigade, associated with the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad resistance movement, stated that its members fired at the invading Israeli army vehicles.
The Palestinian Ministry of Heath said a Palestinian youth with a serious injury in the abdomen and another injured in the thigh were transferred to Rafidia Surgical Hospital to receive treatment.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) also reported that its teams dealt with dozens of Palestinians who suffered breathing difficulties due to inhaling tear gas during the clashes.
Human rights groups have documented numerous cases of Israeli soldiers gunning down peaceful Palestinian protesters across the occupied territories.
Additionally, a man and his wife sustained gunshot wounds after Israeli soldiers fired shots at their car in Askar al-Balad neighbourhood of Nablus.
Ambulance crews also treated a shrapnel wound to the eye of a Palestinian protester.
Israeli forces launch raids on various cities of the West Bank almost on a daily basis under the pretext of detaining what it calls ‘wanted’ Palestinians. The raids usually lead to violent confrontations with residents.
Over the past months, Israel has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested.
More than 200 Palestinians, including 35 children, have been killed by Israel since the beginning of this year.
A total of 165 people have died in the West Bank and East al-Quds, making 2023 one of the bloodiest years in the occupied Palestinian territories. Another 36 people were killed in the Gaza Strip.
- Foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have warned against the recurrent incursions of Israeli forces and extremist settlers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, denouncing the practice as a violation of international law.
At the conclusion of the 18th extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC member states in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the top diplomats denounced the ongoing Israeli violations and provocations at the sacred site as a ‘grave breach of the international law and unprecedented tampering with the current historical and legal status quo’.
They also deplored the repeated desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque by far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, other officials of the regime and Knesset (parliament) members, describing such practices as ‘acts of provocation against the Muslim nation’.
On Wednesday, dozens of Israeli settlers broke into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound under heavy protection from Israeli forces.
The extremist settlers, divided into groups, intruded into the site through the Moroccan Gate and provocatively performed rituals and Talmudic prayers.
The al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.
Hardline Israeli officials and settlers regularly storm the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied city, a provocative move that infuriates Palestinians. Such mass break-ins almost always take place at the behest of Tel Aviv-backed temple groups and under the auspices of the Israeli police in al-Quds.
The Jewish visitation of al-Aqsa is permitted, but as part of a decades-old agreement between Jordan – the custodian of Islamic and Christian sites in al-Quds – and Israel in the wake of Israel’s occupation of East al-Quds in 1967, non-Muslim worship at the compound is prohibited.
Back in October 2021, an Israeli court upheld a ban on Jewish prayers at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, after an earlier lower court’s decision stirred outrage among various Palestinians and across the Muslim world.
The judge of the district court in al-Quds Aryeh Romanov on October 8th, 2021, confirmed that Jews are barred from worshipping openly at the site, and only Muslims are permitted to pray there.
In May 2021, frequent acts of violence against Palestinian worshippers at al-Aqsa Mosque led to an 11-day war between Palestinian resistance groups in the besieged Gaza Strip and the Israeli regime, during which the regime forces killed at least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children.
- President Ebrahim Raeisi has said that his historic early May visit to Syria served to send the message of victory for the regional resistance front.
The chief executive made the remarks during a meeting with a delegation comprising three visiting Syrian ministers, which was being headed by the Arab country’s Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad, in Tehran on Tuesday.
Raeisi hailed the Syrian government and people’s steadfastness and resistance against all-out sedition and aggression over the course of 12 years. He was referring to Damascus’ successful confrontation against fierce foreign-backed militancy and terrorism that started afflicting the Arab nation in 2011.
The May 3 visit between him and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – the first one to take place between two Iranian and Syrian officials in that capacity since the start of the foreign-backed violence – served to convey the important message of great victory for the regional resistance front and approach, Raeisi noted.
President Raeisi has described his two-day visit to Syria as a turning point in expansion of relations between the two countries.
The Iranian president laid emphasis on the need for ‘complete implementation’ of the agreements that were reached during his trip, especially those concerning the economic and trade area, saying, ‘I hope that in near future, we get to witness the implementation of the next steps towards further development of the countries’ ties.’
Tehran and Damascus have inked documents to enhance long-term cooperation.
Mekdad, for his part, said his visit alongside his fellow Syrian ministers had taken place on Assad’s initiative as means of conveying the depth of the strategic bilateral relations.
The Syrian top diplomat concluded his remarks by saying that, led by the Islamic Republic, the regional resistance front had shown that it could frustrate whatever plot could start targeting the region.
- The chief commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has warned that no foreigners will be allowed to have a presence in Muslim countries and decide their fate.
Speaking on Wednesday at the beginning of the IRGC Navy’s drills in Abu Musa Island in the Persian Gulf, Major General Hossein Salami emphasised that Muslims are capable enough to safeguard their territories as they are loyal to the common values of their religion.
‘The Islamic countries are not the land where foreigners from outside the region can have a presence and rule,’ he said.
‘Islamic nations and governments in this region are able to ensure the security of all their areas through Muslim fraternal arrangements, and there is no need for the presence of foreigners.’
Salami further noted that Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution conveyed a message that says ‘no foreigner will have the permission to be present in the lands of Muslims and decide their fate’.
The Islamic establishment in Iran has always sought stability, security and peace across the Muslim world, while the enemies want to fuel divisions, internal battles and bloody wars among Muslims, he added.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy launches drills to show its power and readiness in safeguarding the Persian Gulf and its Iranian islands.
‘Iran backs oppressed Muslims, including Palestinians’
Also in his remarks, the IRGC chief reiterated Iran’s support for the oppressed Muslims in every corner of the world, including the Palestinians, in the face of attacks by foreigners.
‘If a thorn hurts a Palestinian child’s foot or if a Palestinian house is looted or destroyed by the criminal Zionists, our hearts ache and we are ready to support the oppressed,’ he asserted.
‘If foreigners attack Islamic countries …, we will support the beloved Muslim nations. We have bitter experience of foreign intervention in the region.’
