Israel army says kills 7 in West Bank raids including militant leader
Israel's military said troops killed a Palestinian militant leader and six others on Thursday, the second day of large-scale "counter-terrorism" operations in the occupied West Bank.
A military spokesman gave an overall death toll of 16 Palestinian militants since Israeli forces launched coordinated raids across the northern West Bank on Wednesday. The Palestinian health ministry reported at least 15 dead.
A military statement said five were killed on Thursday in the Tulkarem refugee camp including Muhammad Jaber, also known as Abu Shujaa. Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said he was its commander in the nearby Nur Shams refugee camp.
According to Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, "he was a head of a terror network in Nur Shams", also accusing Jaber of "inciting" young Palestinians to carry out attacks against Israelis.
Shoshani told an online media briefing that Jaber was killed in "a significant exchange of fire" between Israeli forces and "armed terrorists hiding" in a mosque in the Tulkarem camp.
Tulkarem governor Mustafa Taqatqa rejected the army's account, saying the five men were not inside the mosque when killed.
"A rocket was fired at a house and the young men were not in the mosque," Taqatqa told AFP.
Shoshani said that one member of the Israeli security forces was injured in the operation that killed Jaber.
The military separately said it killed two "terrorists" in Jenin, also in the northern West Bank, taking its reported death toll of Palestinian militants to 16 since the raids began early Wednesday.
According to the military, nine of them were killed on Wednesday, the first day of the simultaneous raids.
- 'No evacuation' -
While clashes and fighting continued in some areas, Shoshani said "a shorter, smaller operation" in Al-Faraa refugee camp had ended within 24 hours and killed four Palestinians.
Witnesses told AFP that Israeli forces had withdrawn from Al-Farra camp in Tubas, where Palestinian deaths were reported Wednesday.
An AFP photographer said clashes were ongoing in Jenin, where a drone was flying overhead.
Another AFP correspondent said troops were still operating in Tulkarem too.
A military statement said that more than "10 wanted individuals were arrested, dozens of explosive devices were destroyed, and weapons were confiscated" during the raids.
Violence has surged in the West Bank -- a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 and separated geographically from the Gaza Strip by Israeli territory -- since Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 637 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, according to figures shared by the United Nations on Wednesday.
Palestinian attacks or exchanges with militants over the same period killed at least 19 Israelis in the West Bank, including soldiers, according to Israeli official figures.
Shoshani said there were "no evacuation orders" in the areas affected by ongoing operation, which he said was smaller in scale than a massive raid on Jenin in July 2023 that left 13 dead.
"If they (Palestinian civilians) wish to leave, there are safe routes to use to leave," he said.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday appealed for Israeli forces to act "with the same determination... (as) in Gaza, including temporary evacuation of residents".
Shoshani also disputed reports and statements from Palestinian Red Crescent officials that Israeli forces were blocking access to hospitals.
