WEST BANK, (PIC)
The Hamas Movement has condemned Israel’s ongoing policy of assassinating resistance fighters and escalating attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, calling them desperate attempts to suppress the growing resistance movement.
In a statement, Hamas emphasized that the recent assassinations of fighters—particularly in light of recent operations such as the shooting near Jenin and a vehicle ramming attack in al-Khalil—will only strengthen the determination of the West Bank’s youth to confront and resist the occupation.
The Movement mourned the two fighters killed: Noor Abdel Karim Al-Baytawi from Jenin and Hikmat Gheith Abdel Nabi from Nablus, who were killed in an armed confrontation after being besieged by Israeli forces in a home east of Nablus. Hamas praised the pair for their “heroic stand” and stressed that martyrdom will only fuel further resistance, not extinguish it.
Hamas called on the people of the West Bank to continue embracing and supporting the resistance fighters, and urged the region’s youth to escalate their operations against Israeli forces and settlers, especially in light of what it described as Israel’s crimes against the people of Gaza.
According to reports, Israeli forces assassinated Noor Al-Baytawi, a commander in the Jenin Battalion, and Hikmat Abdel Nabi, a wanted fighter from Nablus, after a fierce gunfight in the Ain Kakoub area east of Nablus. The fighters were reportedly targeted by an explosive-laden drone.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society in Nablus later confirmed that its crews recovered the remains of the two martyrs from the rubble of the besieged home, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces, who claimed to be holding their bodies.
