Truce hanging by a thread as Israeli forces kill two Palestinian gunmen in West Bank clash

 Israeli security forces killed two Palestinian gunmen in armed clashes in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, witnesses and the Israeli military said.

Israeli forces surrounded the house of Ibrahim al-Nabulsi a senior commander of the Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militant group long on Israel’s wanted list, calling him to exit, witnesses and the military said.

Al-Nabulsi, barricaded inside with other militants, refused to surrender and a gun battle followed with Israeli forces also using shoulder-fired missiles in the fighting.

Palestinian health officials confirmed al-Nabulsi and another militant were killed and said 40 more people were injured, many in confrontations that erupted following the shoot-out. There were no reports of Israeli casualties.

The deadly clash, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, came less than two days after Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group ended three days of fighting in Gaza – the worst flare-up since May 2021, with their truce largely holding.

Al-Nabulsi, was a member of the recently formed “Nablus Brigade”, a Palestinian militant alliance in the city which also includes Islamic Jihad’s gunmen.

The Israeli military said he was suspected of carrying out several shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

Israel has stepped up raids in recent months in the West Bank after men from the area carried out deadly street attacks in Israel. The Western-backed Palestinian Authority regularly condemns such incursions.