February 22 2023 The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) launched a raid into the Palestinian controlled West Bank. The raid lasted for several hours and resulted in at least 10 deaths and 80 severe injuries from gunshot wounds. 

The Israeli government has claimed the raid’s purpose was to hunt down and kill leaders of Islamist militia groups behind recent attacks in Israeli controlled territory. The Israeli military has further specified that the IDF were attacked first with guns, rockets and molotov cocktails, with IDF forces responding to these initial attacks with gunfire. The Israeli military remains confident that these raids are justified, pointing to increases in violence against Israeli civilians by Islamic terrorist groups.

The Arab League, a pro-Palestinianin international organization composed of various Arab nations, has called the raid heinous and condemned the IDF for what it claims to be a massacre of innocent civilians. Multiple Islamist groups and local militia forces have said that many of their members were killed during the raid, with leadership from the Islamic Jihad terrorist group saying that one of its commanders was killed in a battle against the Israeli army and its special forces.

While various militants were killed during the conflict many civilians were also killed and injured, including Palestine TV journalist Mohammed Al Khatib, who was shot in the hand and is now recovering at Nablus’s Rafidia hospital. 250 Palestinian civilians are also seeking treatment for tear gas inhalation related to the IDF raid.

“We are hearing stories that Israeli forces were shooting at the neighbors, people in their houses, people going about their daily lives. Palestinians say Israel is acting this way because it is not being held accountable and has a freehand killing of Palestinians,” Said Al Jazeera reporter Nida Ibrahim of the recent raid. 

This raid is only a small chapter in a much larger story about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with violence between the two groups starting many decades prior. The international community has tried several times to bring peace to the region, but no one treaty or compromise has proved capable of ending the violence.