NABLUS, Palestine: Israel on Wednesday detained three alleged members of the Lions’ Den militant group in the occupied West Bank, the army said, including the brother of a key Palestinian militant.
The arrest of Muhammad Al-Nabulsi and two others in Nablus comes a day after five Palestinians were killed during an Israeli military operation in the city.
“Muhammad Al-Nabulsi was suspected of possessing weapons, manufacturing explosive devices and involvement in the ‘Lions’ Den’ terrorist group,” the army said in a statement.
His brother Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi, nicknamed “The Lion of Nablus,” was shot dead by Israeli forces in August and has since become a folk hero among Palestinian youth.
The Lions’ Den has emerged in recent months alongside a sharp rise in raids by Israeli forces in the northern West Bank.
The three arrests on Wednesday follow the killing on Tuesday of Wadih Al-Houh, described by Israel as the head of the Lions’ Den, and four other Palestinians in Nablus.
A further 20 Palestinians were wounded in the Israeli operation, the Palestinian health ministry said.
In addition to regular raids, the Israeli army has imposed additional checkpoints around Nablus over the past two weeks which have severely impeded daily life.
The closures follow the killing of an Israeli soldier in the area on October 11, three days after a military policewoman was shot dead in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
So far this month 25 Palestinians have been killed in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.
Israel detains alleged Palestinian militants in West Bank
https://arab.news/vpezf
Israel detains alleged Palestinian militants in West Bank
- The arrest comes a day after six Palestinians were killed in Nablus
US, Qatar, Turkiye, Egypt to hold Gaza talks in Miami
- Under the second stage, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will hold talks with senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye in Miami on Friday on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, a White House official told AFP on Thursday.
Under the second stage, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilization force is to be deployed.
But progress has so far been slow in moving to the following phase of October’s agreement between Israel and Hamas, which was brokered by Washington and its regional allies.
Turkiye said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would attend the talks. Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty would also be there, the Axios news outlet reported.
“Turkiye will continue to fight determinedly on every front to ensure that what is happening in Gaza is not forgotten, that justice is served,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a speech on Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on December 29, Axios said, as the US president pushes for a longer-term deal.
Trump said in a televised address to the nation on Wednesday that the Gaza truce had brought peace to the Middle East “for the first time in 3,000 years.”
But the ceasefire remains fragile with both sides alleging violations, and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are playing for time.
Israel said it had struck and killed the head of weapons production in Hamas’s military wing in the Gaza Strip last weekend, a move that reportedly sparked Trump to warn of jeopardizing the truce.
Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner played a key role in the shuttle diplomacy that led to the deal to end the Gaza war, which was sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.
The US pair are also involved in talks to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and will meet Russian officials in Miami over the weekend.
