Al-Nakhalah: PIJ will not abandon its responsibilities

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The Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad movement, Ziad Al-Nakhalah issued a statement on Tuesday, in which he addressed the situation in the West Bank in light of the increasing Israeli occupation attacks against the Palestinians, and stressed that the movement "will not abandon its responsibilities."

On the occasion of the anniversary of the Wafaa Al-Ahrar Deal, Al-Nakhalah said that "what is happening in the valiant West Bank, and in particular, in the occupied city of Al-Quds, in Nablus, in Jenin, and the Shuafat camp, is a challenge to the Palestinian people and their resistance."

"The resistance and the Islamic Jihad movement will not abandon their responsibilities and duties," he stressed, adding that "they will be present whenever necessary," and "the unity and resistance of the Palestinian people is one of the most important duties now."

In an exclusive interview with Al Mayadeen last Monday, Al-Nakhalah asserted that the recent incidents in the West Bank are "not spontaneous." Rather this is a case of "resistance, an armed uprising, and a true and serious revolution against the occupation. We are doing all that we can in order to escalate this intifada."

He also revealed that there are efforts to "develop the capabilities of the resistance in the West Bank and spread this into '48 occupied territories."

Al-Nakhalah noted that there is a great deal of cooperation taking place between the Islamic Jihad movement and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade that began after the Freedom Tunnel operation, which opened new horizons for the resistance in the West Bank."

Al-Nakhla's words come after high and continuous tension in the West Bank since the Shuafat checkpoint operation last Saturday, in which an Israeli female soldier was killed, other soldiers were wounded, and the individual who carried out the operation managed to withdraw safely.

For days, confrontations between Palestinians and the Israeli occupation forces continued in several areas in occupied Al-Quds and the West Bank, prompting Palestinian Resistance fighters to confront the occupation.

Local witnesses reported that more than 700 heavily-equipped Israeli soldiers from all divisions stormed the Shuafat refugee camp via the military checkpoint and the gate of the Dahiyat Al-Salam neighborhood. Afterward, Israeli soldiers have been deployed in different sites most notably in Dahiyat Al-Salam, Ras Khamis, and Ras Shehadeh neighborhoods.

Consequently, Palestinian youths confronted the occupation forces and set up barriers to disrupt their movement.

Also, The IOF raided and besieged the house of Al-Tamimi, who they accuse of carrying out the shooting attack at the camp's checkpoint, last Saturday evening.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Sunday the martyrdom of 31-year-old Mujahid Daoud, as a result of critical wounds he sustained on Saturday during an Israeli raid on Salfit village, occupied West Bank.

Five Palestinians were wounded by live bullets fired by the Israeli occupation forces during confrontations that broke out on Saturday evening in the town of Qarawa Bani Hassan, west of Salfit in the occupied West Bank.

On  Friday, two Palestinians were killed, a doctor and a 20-year-old, and six others were injured, during confrontations that erupted between Israeli occupation forces and Palestinians following an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp.

The occupation was forced to partially lift its siege on the Shuafat refugee camp and Nablus, days after closing the checkpoints and preventing movement to and from the area.