Tensions have been high in Nablus overnight on Monday with deadly clashes taking place after the arrest of prominent resistance operatives by Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces.
A Palestinian man was reportedly martyred in the West Bank city after being shot during clashes that erupted to protest the arrest of Mussaab Shtayyeh and Amid Tabila.
The martyred man was named as 53-year-old Firas Yaish. According to Palestinian reports he was a bystander and was shot in the head.
The clashes erupted after the (PA) security forces arrested Shtayyeh, a Hamas commander wanted by the Israeli occupation, as well as Tabila.
Video clips on social media showed guns being fired and crowds marching in the streets in protest against the arrest.
Another video showed vehicles belong to PA security forces touring in the city.
Shtayyeh is said to have been closely associated with Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi, who was martyred in a heroic three-hour confrontation with Israeli occupation forces in Nablus last month following months of being at large. Nbaulsi was popular in Nablus and the entire West Bank over his prominent role in resistance activities in the city.
Shtayyeh was part of an armed squad called the Nablus Battalion or Nablus Lions, a group known of involvement in recent shooting attacks against Israeli occupation forces and Zionist settlers at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.
Palestinian Resistance Warns PA
General Strike was announced on Tuesday in Nablus in the wake of the arrests, as resistance factions warned the Palestinian Authority of the consequences of the operation.
In a video, masked resistance fighters demanded the immediate release of Shtayyeh and Tabila, declaring that until PA security forces will not release them, they will not let the security forces enter the city.
Hamas issued a statement warning the PA security services against carrying out actions on behalf of the Israeli occupation.
“This is a new stain on the [Palestinian] Authority and the black record of its security coordination,” the resistance group said in a statement.
Islamic Jihad official Maher Al-Akhras condemned as “shameful” the PA arrests.
“Palestinian people can’t accept the behavior of PA security services who are serving the Israeli occupation.”
Source: Palestinian and Israeli media (translated by Al-Manar English Website)
