Mass funerals after Israeli raids on West Bank kill six

Major Israeli raids on Tuesday in the occupied West Bank targeting nascent militant group “the Lions’ Den” killed six Palestinians, whose deaths brought thousands of mourners onto the streets in mass funerals.

The Palestinian health ministry said five people were killed in Nablus in the northern West Bank, where Israel confirmed an overnight operation targeted the group, which it blames for multiple recent attacks.

Another Palestinian died from a gunshot wound to the chest during overnight clashes with Israeli forces in Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah, the health ministry said.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that Wadi Al Houh, whom he described as “the head” of the Lions’ Den, was among those killed in Nablus.

The army said it had carried out a major operation with police and intelligence officers targeting a location “used by the main operatives” of the group, describing the site as a “headquarters and a workshop for making weapons”.

“The forces detonated the explosive manufacturing site,” added the army statement.

“During the activity, multiple armed suspects were hit.”

Later on Tuesday, the army said it had arrested a suspect after an Israeli civilian was stabbed near Al Funduq, a Palestinian village west of Nablus.

Medics said a 55-year-old male victim was in moderate condition.

In Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had “real concern” over the West Bank violence.

“We’re urging everyone to take the necessary steps to try to de-escalate that violence and to avoid actions or statements that may incite it,” he said during a visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Violence has surged in recent months in the north of the West Bank — the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 by Israel — especially in the areas of Nablus and Jenin.

An Israeli military official told AFP that “we embarked on an intelligence-based operation to halt the Lions’ Den terror attacks” after “trying to let the Palestinian Authority contain the group and them failing to do so”.

“The region has been thoroughly reinforced, we’re prepared for an escalation,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added.

On the death reported at Nabi Saleh, the army said it had “spotted a suspect throwing an explosive device” at soldiers, who opened fire.

In a statement posted to messaging app Telegram, the militant group was defiant. “Surrender is the path of humiliation,” it said. “It’s time for the lions to come out of their den.”

A sea of mourners carried bodies through the streets of Nablus ahead of the burials as gunman fired into the air.

More than 100 Palestinian fighters and civilians have been killed since the start of the year, the heaviest toll in the West Bank for nearly seven years, according to the United Nations.

The army did not comment on the claims.