Senior Lion’s Den terrorist killed in a bomb explosion in Nablus

A well-known member of the Palestinian terrorist group Lion’s Den was killed on Sunday in Nablus when his motorcycle exploded, with earlier footage allegedly showing an individual placing a bomb on the parked vehicle. 

As a senior member of Lion’s Den, Tamer al-Kilani reportedly played a central role in the recent terror wave against Israelis. The terror group immediately claimed that Israel had “assassinated” the senior member, describing al-Kilani as one of its “fiercest fighters.”

“The treacherous occupation placed a sticky TNT device [on the motorcycle] as the way to assassinate al-Kilani,” Lion’s Den wrote on Sunday morning on social media. On Instagram and in an official statement, the group called on “every resident who can enter Nablus to participate in his funeral today.”

Senior Fatah official Tayseer Nasrallah told Voice of Palestine radio that the Palestinian Authority would “end the siege” of Nablus, where the recently established Lion’s Den is based. 

“Breaking the siege imposed on the city is done by going to the checkpoints and opening them with a popular Palestinian will,” Nasrallah said to the station. 

Lion’s Den also threatened to escalate the recent wave of violence, which has gone after Israeli targets.

“We promise the occupation and [Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv] Kochavi a severe, agonizing and painful response,” the group’s official statement said. “Today we gave our land the best of our soldiers. The lions will go one after the other, either to victory or to become a martyr.”

The IDF and the Israeli Security Agency did not comment directly on al-Kilani’s death; however, an army spokeswoman said the Israeli military “will continue to operate at all times and in all places from which terror attacks against Israelis emanate.”

Israel has recently stepped up its military presence in Nablus because of the increase in terrorist activity in the area. While the Abbas regime is formally in charge of Nablus, it is either unwilling or incapable of preventing the terrorist wave targeting Israel. 

Two Israeli soldiers and 19 Arabs have been killed in the West Bank during the last month. The overwhelming majority of the Arabs killed were armed terrorists who clashed with Israeli security forces. 

WHO WAS AL-KILANI?

Tamer al-Kilani, 33, a senior Lion’s Den member, was previously imprisoned for violent activities against Israel. In November, Kilani planned a major terrorist attack on the Tel Aviv area; however, Israeli authorities succeeded to stop the terrorist plot, arresting an armed terrorist who had been dispatched from Nablus to Jaffa.

When he was nabbed, the assailant was carrying an AK-47 automatic rifle and two explosive devices that could have killed many Israelis. 

FATAH CONDEMNS AL-KILANI’S KILLING

The P.A.’s ruling Fatah organization, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, condemned al-Kilani’s killing and described it, in an official statement, as a “cowardly assassination.”

While the P.A. is formally in charge of maintaining law and order in most Arab-populated regions in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), its power is limited and waning. Nevertheless, Fatah and the P.A. have also incited hatred and violence against Israel and Jewish people. During an official visit to Germany in August, Abbas was condemned for his outrageous anti-Semitic libel that the Jewish state has committed “50 Holocausts” against Arabs.