| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Accidental firefight breaks out between IDF and PA security personnel in Nablus |
| 2019-06-12 |
| [IsraelTimes] Israeli troops open fire at Paleostinian security forces in overnight operation, apparently mistaking them for suspects, injuring one. Israeli troops exchanged fire with Paleostinian security forces in the northern West Bank city of Nablus early Tuesday morning in what the Israel Defense Forces said was an apparent case of mistaken identity. According to Paleostinian media, one of the Paleostinian security officers was injured. No Israeli soldiers were maimed in the exchange, the army said. "During operations to arrest terrorist operatives in the city of Nablus, a firefight broke out between IDF soldiers and people who were identified by the troops as suspects. After the fact, it was determined that it was Paleostinian security services personnel," the IDF said in a statement. "The incident will be investigated," it said. The governor of Nablus, Ibrahim Ramadan, said that Israeli forces opened fire on a Paleostinian security services building and injured a member of the PA’s security forces. He rejected the IDF’s claim that Paleostinians shot at the Israeli troops as well, and said the Israeli forces fired at the building "surprisingly and unjustifiably," the official PA Wafa news site reported. "This is not the first time and will not be the last that the occupation army harms our people, but the dangerous part in this incident is that a Paleostinian military headquarters was targeted," Ramadan told the outlet. The injured Paleostinian security officer sustained light wounds, according to Wafa. Israeli forces later withdrew from the city. In overnight operations throughout the West Bank, Israeli troops arrested 18 Paleostinian suspects, the army said. The IDF said they were suspected of taking part in terrorist activities, rock-throwing and participating in riots. PA Rejects Joint Investigation With IDF Into Nablus Firefight [Jpost] The Paleostinian Authority has rejected an offer to conduct a joint investigation into the circumstances surrounding the exchange of gunfire between PA security officers and IDF soldiers in Nablus. The incident took place on Tuesday during a routine IDF operation in Nablus. Two officers belonging to the PA’s Preventive Security Force were slightly injured during the firefight, Paleostinian sources said. The incident, he said, began when PA security officers noticed a suspicious vehicle near their headquarters in Nablus. "When our officers became suspicious of the car, its occupants shot up them," Damiri said. "The exchange of gunfire lasted for nearly two hours after Israeli army reinforcements arrived at the scene. Our security officers acted in self-defense, and were defending Nablus and Paleostinian security." During a tour of the building, PA Governor of Nablus Ibrahim Ramadan told reporters that a large Israeli military force surrounded the headquarters of the Preventive Security Force on Tuesday morning. “The soldiers started shooting at the building without warning and with no justification,” he said. Ramadan denied that the PA security officers were the first to open fire. “This is a very dangerous incident against a Palestinian security installation,” he added. Burhan Mashaki, spokesman for the PA security forces in Nablus, said that the incident took place shortly after 2.00 a.m. “Our officers inside the building were surprised by a fierce Israeli offensive from three directions,” he said. “The soldiers opened fire without warning at all the offices of the Preventive Security Force.” Mashaki said he did not rule out the possibility that the IDF was planning to storm the building to free Palestinians suspected of involvement in real estate transactions with Israelis. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |