Israel kills Hamas-allied Islamic Jihad commander as death toll rises in major West Bank operation

The Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday that troops in the Israeli-occupied West Bank had killed five more militants, including a senior commander of a Hamas-allied group, while witnesses said the IDF operation there was still ongoing. Israel launched its largest military operation in the West Bank in years on Wednesday night and said that a total of 14 militants had been killed since then.

The Hamas-allied Islamic Jihad group issued a statement on Thursday confirming the death of its commander in the West Bank region of Tulkarem. It said Mohammed Jaber, also known as Abu Shujaa, died during a “confrontation with the occupation soldiers” in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem.

The group said his killing would strengthen “the steadfastness, resilience and determination of our people to carry on,” while Hamas warned in its own statement that his death and the deaths of others in the West Bank would “explode the volcano of anger in the West Bank.”

While mourning Jaber, Hamas said that 10 of its fighters had been killed in Israeli attacks in various locations in the West Bank. According to the Reuters news agency, Palestinian health authorities, which do not distinguish between fighters and civilians, said at least 12 people had died. The United Nations said on Wednesday that children were among those killed.

Violence in the West Bank has increased since Israel was attacked from its long-time stronghold in the other Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip, leaving about 1,200 people dead and about 250 others taken hostage.

The war that Israel immediately launched against Hamas in response to this attack has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people in Gaza, according to health officials in the Hamas-controlled enclave.

Palestinians told CBS News they fear the attacks are part of an Israeli campaign to extend the destruction of Gaza that has been going on for more than a decade to the occupied West Bank.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 630 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October, including about 136 dead and 41 injured in Israeli air strikes.

According to OCHA, only six Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes in the West Bank in the three years prior to October – all in 2023.

At least 15 Israelis, including nine military personnel and five settlers, have been killed by Palestinians in the West Bank since October. According to the United Nations, ten Israelis and seven Palestinians involved in the attacks were killed in Palestinian attacks from the West Bank.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke out against the Israeli operation on Thursday.

“I strongly condemn the loss of life, including of children, and call for an immediate cessation of these operations,” Guterres said in a statement on social media. “Only an end to the occupation and a return to a meaningful political process leading to a two-state solution will put an end to the violence.”

Imtiaz Tyab contributed to this report.