Israel kills, wounds many Palestinians during raid

Five Palestinians were killed and 22 others injured in a raid by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, Palestine’s Health Ministry has said.

“There are three dead and 19 wounded, three of them seriously, by Israeli fire in Nablus,” the ministry said in a brief statement early Tuesday, referring to a city in the occupied West Bank.

The ministry later reported that another Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire, this time in Ramallah, home to the headquarters of Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority in the central occupied West Bank.

The ministry also updated the death toll with another Palestinian killed in Nablus. Five of the wounded are in critical condition.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is establishing "urgent contacts in order to stop this aggression against our people" in Nablus, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah said in a statement.

Eyewitnesses have told Anadolu Agency that the sounds of gunfire and explosions were heard in Nablus as a large force of Israeli troops entered the city from multiple fronts and raided a house in the region.

Israeli army in a statement said that its troops are currently operating in the Nablus region.

Separately, a newly formed armed group that named themselves “Den of Lions” has called on Palestinians to take action. “The time has come to get out of the lions’ den”.

READ MORE: Several Palestinians injured by Israeli fire in occupied West Bank

'Den of Lions'

Late leader Ibrahim al Nabulsi, nicknamed "The Lion of Nablus", was known for attracting the youth in the region before he was shot dead by Israeli forces in August.

He has since become a folk hero to Palestinians on social media.

In the aftermath, the Israeli army tightened its grip on Nablus, setting up controls to identify people leaving the city and constantly scanning the skies of the city with observation drones.

On Saturday night, a Lions' Den fighter, Tamer al Kilani, was killed in the Old City of Nablus by an "explosion" attributed by the group and the Israeli press to a bomb remotely activated by the Israeli army.

The army did not comment on these claims.

Violence has increased in recent months in the northern West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 by Israel, especially in the areas of Nablus and Jenin.

Israeli soldiers have stepped up operations in both cities since March. 

These raids, often accompanied by clashes with the Palestinian population, have resulted in more than a hundred deaths on the Palestinian side, the highest death toll in the West Bank in nearly seven years, according to the UN.

Since the beginning of the month, 22 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers have been killed, according to an AFP report.

READ MORE: Israeli forces shoot dead two Palestinians in occupied West Bank