Two Israeli women who entered Nablus, in the West Bank, with their small children were caught by armed Palestinian militants before being rescued out of the city by Palestinian Authority officers on Tuesday afternoon, Ynet reported.
The PA security team handed the women and their children over to Israeli forces, the report notes.
Nablus is one of the hotspots during the past few months during the IDF’s Operation Break the Wave with intense gunfire by Palestinians against Israeli troops. The Lions’ Den militant group, based in the city, has carried out dozens of attacks against Israelis and IDF troops pic.twitter.com/m4Npm8WMMN
— Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) October 4, 2022
The mothers are expected to be questioned by the IDF as to why they entered Nablus only hours before Yom Kippur and during heightened tensions in the West Bank, amid a 47% increase in shooting attacks reported over the last month by the Shin Bet.
A significant rise in West Bank attacks
In one of two shooting attacks reported on the outskirts of Nablus earlier this week, Palestinians fired volleys of shots at a settler rally on Sunday, lightly injuring an IDF soldier in the leg.
In another attack early Monday morning near Ramallah, two Palestinians were killed by IDF fire as they attempted to ram Israeli troops.
To date this year, 18 citizens have been killed in Palestinian terror attacks.
This is a developing story.