Hamas mourned martyr Abed al-Raouf Ishtiyeh from the Balata refugee Camp, who was killed after being besieged by Israeli occupation forces in eastern Nablus, in the West Bank.

Martyr al-Raouf fought back against Israeli occupation forces who raided a building where he stayed. 

Hamas: Ishtiyeh was martyred after 'heroic' journey

Hamas stated that “the assassination carried out by the Israeli occupation forces against the martyr and freedom fighter Abed al-Raouf Ishtiyeh in Nablus reflects the savagery and bloodthirstiness adopted by the extremist occupation government, in a desperate attempt to break the will of the deeply rooted resistance in the West Bank.”

It noted that “the assassination of hero Ishtiyeh, who was one of the occupation’s most wanted in Nablus, comes after a journey of resistance full of heroism, including his car-ramming operation at the A'warta checkpoint that killed two [Israeli] soldiers, in addition to his participation in a series of shooting operations targeting occupation forces and their military posts.”

PIJ denounces Israeli policies in West Bank

In the same context, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) condemned the continuation of daily killings, systematic destruction, and severe violations carried out by the occupation army and settlers against the Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank. The movement said that such actions constitute a dangerous escalation aimed at ending innocent Palestinian lives, seizing private property, imposing control over land, and paving the way for depriving Palestinians of their right to their homeland.

The PIJ stressed that “these practices constitute a blatant violation of international law, UN resolutions, and rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)." The movement also held the Israeli regime and Western and non-Western backers of the occupation responsible for these ongoing crimes.

It called on Arab and Islamic governments to confront settlement policies and the ongoing aggression against the occupied West Bank by adopting policies that support Palestinian rights and providing all forms of material and moral support to ensure the Palestinians’ continued presence on their land.

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Criminal approach will trigger inevitable explosion

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) mourned martyr Ishtiyeh, stressing that the widening scope of US-backed Israeli escalation in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon is a clear would inevitably lead to these policies backfiring against the occupation.

The PFLP said that continued Israeli escalation and the inevitable "explosion" resulting from these oppressive policies and aggression threaten regional stability.

Meanwhile, the al-Mujahideen Movement stressed that intensifying confrontations with Israeli occupation forces and settlers across the West Bank is the only effective means of curbing the regime’s ongoing crimes.

Occupation abducts Ishtiyeh’s body

It is worth noting that martyr Ishtiyeh carried out a car-ramming operation at the A'warta checkpoint near Nablus in northern West Bank in late May 2024, killing two Israeli troops. Since then, the Israeli regime has deployed multiple units from different branches of its security forces, including the military, the Shin Bet, and the Yamam special force, to locate him, but they were unable to reach or arrest him until Monday night.

Occupation forces raided the city, besieged a house on al-Hasba Street, and launched shoulder-fired weapons at the house, killing Ishtiyeh.

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