Palestinian Lions' Den armed resistance group announce killing of 'traitor'

The Palestinian armed resistance movement Lions' Den has announced the extrajudicial killing of a "traitor" in the occupied West Bank.

The group based in the northern city of Nablus said on Sunday a "traitor" had been "liquidated", in a Telegram post that gave no further details of identity or activities.

Palestinian public body the Independent Commission for Human Rights also said a man who had been "accused of spying for the Israeli occupation" had been killed on Saturday evening.

A security source in Nablus, who requested anonymity due to sensitivities surrounding the case, told AFP news agency that the man was shot dead in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem.

The source identified the person killed as the same man who appeared in a video circulating on social media, which AFP was not able to verify, confessing to spying on the militant group for Israel.

The Lions' Den group said it would "explain to the public... after completing some security measures".

"We direct our message to every traitor who sells his religion, his conscience, his honour, and his nation," added the group, which emerged last year.

The commission said people should not "take the law into their own hands" and warned extrajudicial killings to risk sparking "chaos".

It called treason a "heinous crime" that should be punished through the courts.

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Lions' Den fighters increasingly targeted

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War and its forces have killed multiple Lions' Den members in recent months.

The Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks targeting Israelis in the occupied West Bank, including the killing of a soldier in October.

So far this year, Israeli forces have claimed the lives of at least 92 Palestinians and 18 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians according to an AFP count based on official sources on both sides.

These figures include, on the Palestinian side, members of resistance movements and civilians, including minors, and on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, including minors, and three members of the Palestinian minority in Israel.
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