Founder member of Palestinian Lions’ Den armed group killed

One of the founding members of the militant Palestinian group Lions’ Den has been killed during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Wadee al-Houh was one of five Palestinians killed on Tuesday in what Reuters described as “one of the largest firefights in recent weeks”.

He was one of the founders and commanders of the Lions’ Den, “an armed group of young Palestinians that was formed last year out of frustration and disillusionment with the Palestinian leadership and its tight security ties with Israel”, said Al Jazeera.

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Described as an “upstart organization” by The Times of Israel, the group has claimed “near-nightly attacks on Israeli troops and civilians”, said the paper, amid a crackdown in the West Bank.

Active within the Nablus area, mainly in its Old City and in the Balata refugee camp, Haaretz said the “declared goal” of the Lions’ Den is “to confront IDF [Israeli Defence Force] soldiers when they enter the city or come to protect worshippers at Joseph’s Tomb on the city’s outskirts”.

Unlike most other militant groups, however, “most are young, secular men between the ages of 18 and 24 who don’t attend mosques and aren’t influenced by religious figures”, added the paper.

The killing of al-Houh “is yet another severe blow to the armed group”, said The Jerusalem Post after another of its commanders, Tamer al-Kilani, was killed in an explosion in Nablus over the weekend.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, Lions’ Den accused Israeli forces of orchestrating the assassination and promised a “painful response”. Israeli officials have so far not commented on whether its forces were involved in the explosion.

In response to the deaths of Lions’ Den commanders in recent days, Palestinian factions called for a general strike and a “day of rage” in Nablus and other parts of the West Bank on Tuesday.

The ruling Fatah faction said in a statement that the Palestinian people “will confront the aggression of the occupation defend their legitimate national and historical rights” and called for an escalation of “popular resistance” against Israel, holding it responsible for perpetrating “crimes” against the Palestinians.