People gather at the scene where two Palestinian militants were killed during clashes with Israeli forces in a raid, in Nablus in the West Bank, July 24, 2022. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta

A top leader of the Lion’s Den organization, a new militant group in the West Bank, was killed in an overnight shootout as Israel’s security forces busted and blew up a bomb laboratory of the Palestinian militant group in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid confirmed that the “terrorist laboratory of the Lion’s Den was severely damaged” during the operation, which targeted and killed Waddia Al-Houh, a leader of the militant group, and other terrorists.

The Israeli army said the terrorist group was responsible for this month’s shooting attack that killed IDF soldier Staff-Sergeant Ido Baruch. The militia was also behind an attempted large-scale attack in Tel Aviv and other planned attacks against Israeli civilians, the IDF claimed.

“This was a lethal precision strike at the heart of a terrorist cell that was trying to carry out attacks,” Lapid said. “Our goal was and remains to strike hard and continuously at terrorists and those who dispatch them in Jenin, Nablus and wherever terrorism takes root; we will not relent even for a moment.”

“We will not permit the existence of terrorist organizations that attack Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers,” he cautioned.

As part of the ground operation conducted together with Israel’s security agency, IDF forces raided a hideout apartment in the Old City of Nablus used by the Palestinian group as headquarters and as a site to manufacture explosives, the army said in a statement.

During the raid, clashes broke out sparking a fire exchange between IDF forces and Palestinian gunmen which led to the killing of five Palestinians and multiple injuries.

“Dozens of Palestinians burned tires and hurled rocks at the troops,” the IDF said. “The troops responded with live fire toward the armed suspects who were shooting at them.”

Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the military operation, which was approved several days earlier, was based on accurate intelligence gathered by the Shin Bet and executed by experienced commanders and determined soldiers.

Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev commended Israel’s security forces for their precise and complex operation in Nablus, which he said destroyed Palestinian terrorist infrastructure and harmed the terrorists responsible for planning attacks.

Following a visit of  the Samaria Regional Brigade headquarters in the northern West Bank, Gantz warned that there won’t be any “cities of refuge” for terrorists.

“Anyone who tries to harm Israeli citizens will end up in prison or a grave,” Gantz said.

Gantz also emphasized that Israel will only act against terrorists and not against the Palestinian population.

“The perpetrators of terrorism are the ones who harm the Palestinian residents’ daily lives,” Gantz said. “The State of Israel is interested in peace and stability, the better the control of the Palestinian Authority in their territories, the better off they will be.”