NABLUS, Palestinian Territories —
A rare operation by the
Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces to arrest a
Hamas member sparked protests in the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday,
killing one.
اضافة اعلان
A statement from the security forces confirmed the
death of bystander Firas Yaish and said they were “waiting for a medical
report”, on the circumstances of his killing.
He was killed “in a place where no security
personnel were present”, forces spokesman Talal Dweikat said in a statement.
Unrest persisted through the morning, with hundreds
of youths hurling rocks at PA armored vehicles and the sound of gunfire ringing
out across the city center, AFP correspondents reported.
Ahmed, 26, a protester who declined to give his
family name citing personal security concerns, told AFP the protesters’ anger
was fueled by “security coordination between the PA and the occupation
(Israel)”.
“Go away Abu Mazen,” he said, referring to Palestinian
president Mahmud Abbas.
“You are not the Palestinians but only one man — and
a man who wants to fill his pocket with money,” he said.
Hamas, historic rivals of the Abbas’s Fatah movement
that controls the PA, condemned the arrest of 30-year-old Musaab Shtayyeh,
calling it a “kidnapping, ... a national crime,” and a “stain” on the PA’s
image.
It demanded the immediate release of Shtayyeh and
Ameed Tbaileh, who was arrested with him, and blasted the PA for keeping up
security coordination with Israel.
“The (PA) has positioned itself as an exclusive
agent of the occupation (Israel) in the face of our Palestinian people,” the
statement said.
While Abbas’s forces maintain security ties with
Israel, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967, PA raids targeting Hamas
members are not common.
Fatah and Hamas have made various reconciliation
attempts in recent years but relations remain tense.
Israeli violence
The northern
West Bank has
suffered violent and deadly raids by Israeli occupation forces on a near daily
basis in recent months.
Last week, after two Palestinians were killed by
Israeli occupation forces near Jenin.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, a
total of 149 Palestinians have been killed since the start of 2022, including
34 from Jenin, the Palestinian news agency, Wafa, reported.
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