Palestinian teenager killed as Israeli forces raid Balata camp

A Palestinian teenager was killed on Tuesday when a large Israeli force unit stormed the Balata refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

Fares Hashash, 19, was shot in the chest and abdomen by Israeli forces after they raided the camp near Nablus, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The raid, in which dozens of military vehicles and soldiers took part, targeted a house said to belong to a Palestinian fighter. It came hours after similar raids were carried out across the West Bank, including in the nearby city of Nablus.

The father of a Palestinian fighter who was being pursued said in a video shared on Twitter that the Israeli forces warned him they would demolish the house if he did not hand himself in.

"I was at work, an [Israeli] officer called me and told me let your son hand himself in, I've surrounded the whole house...if he does not hand himself in I'm going to bring the house down," said Issam Al-Slaj's father.

⭕ ألسنة الدخان تتصاعد من المنزل المحاصر في مخيم بلاطة pic.twitter.com/Tyy0wAJh0Y

— إذاعة الأقصى - عاجل (@Alaqsavoice_Brk) June 13, 2023

He added that many members of the family were inside the house at the time.

Al-Slaj is allegedly a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade.

In another video, a man can be heard shouting: "We're going to blow up the house."

رأس الإرهاب!

*الاحتلال يتخذ رهائن من أسرة بكاملها بينهم أطفال ونساء ويهدّد بتفجير المنزل فوق رؤوسهم الآن في مخيّم بلاطة…
شهادة والد المقاوم المحاصر عصام الصلاج pic.twitter.com/NCynPnmwmy

— Katia Nasser كاتيا ناصر (@katyushia2) June 13, 2023

***متابعة لاقتحام مخيم بلاطة شرق نابلس

المفلسون…
بعد قصف المنزل المحاصر وترويع المدنيين حوله واستقدام تعزيزات وجرافة…
الآن يهدّدون بتفجير المنزل…

إسمع أيها العالم الأحمق… هذا هو الإرهاب بعينه…
أنتم صمّ بكم عمي ونحن عشاق مجد وشهادة…
خبتم وخاب مسعاكم! pic.twitter.com/F55M1qSeAK

— Katia Nasser كاتيا ناصر (@katyushia2) June 13, 2023

Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters and residents broke out shortly after the raid, sources from the camp told The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Videos showed that explosive devices were reportedly used to target Israeli vehicles.

لحظة استهداف آليات الاحتلال بعبوة ناسفة في مخيم بلاطة بمدينة نابلس pic.twitter.com/d1McNQSzix

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) June 13, 2023

The same sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said plain-clothed Israeli special forces entered the camp from one end while military reinforcements entered from south of the camp.

Israeli military vehicles were accompanied by a bulldozer to remove stones and iron barriers reportedly placed by resistance fighters at the entrances to Balata to delay the storming of the camp.

قوات الاحتلال تحاصر منزلًا في مخيم بلاطة شرق نابلس. pic.twitter.com/qGPlodEx3w

— العَرِيـنْ𓂆. (@Areen165) June 13, 2023

Before confirming Hashash's death, the Palestinian Red Crescent had earlier said one person was shot in the chest and rushed to hospital, adding that ambulances came under Israeli fire.

At dawn on Tuesday, Israeli forces raided Nablus and began preparing an apartment belonging to a Palestinian man behind an April attack that killed three Israeli settlers for its demolition.

They also raided the Askar camp east of Nablus, the Aqabat Jabr camp in Jericho and the city of Jenin, where it carried out arrests.

Israeli forces have carried out near-daily raids in the West Bank for over a year.

More than 160 Palestinians have been killed  in the West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip since the beginning of this year.