IDF 'wipes out five terrorists including top commander' in mosque shootout as UN calls for 'immediate' end to Israel's biggest West Bank offensive in 20 years

Israeli special forces say a terror group commander was among five people killed in a shootout at a mosque in the occupied West Bank yesterday, amid the biggest operation there in two decades.

The Israel Defense Forced (IDF) said Mohammed Jaber, known as Abu Shujaa, a commander in the Islamic Jihad militant group in the Nur Shams refugee camp, was killed along with other members of his group as they hid in the building.

The large-scale military campaign, launched on Tuesday night into Wednesday, is still ongoing and has seen raids across the north of the territory, including in the governorates of Nablus, Tulkarem, Jenin and Tubas.

The Palestinian health ministry says the death toll in the attack so far is at least 12, with reports that two boys among the dead were killed while passing a house targeted by an Israeli airstrike.

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned 'the loss of lives, including of children,' and called for 'an immediate cessation of these operations.'

Israeli soldiers take position during an army operation in Tulkarm in the north of the occupied West Bank on August 29

A Palestinian boy raises his arm into the air as Israeli soldiers inspect what he is carrying during a raid in Jenin

Israeli army armoured vehicles move along a road during a military operation in Tulkarm in the north of the occupied West Bank

Israeli soldiers disembark off an armoured vehicle as they take position during an army operation in Tulkarm

The IDF said Mohammed Jaber (pictured), known as Abu Shujaa, a commander in the Islamic Jihad militant group in the Nur Shams refugee camp, was killed

Violence has surged in the West Bank since Hamas' October 7 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there.

Israel has carried out near-daily raids across the territory in the months since, but this is thought to be the most widespread and coordinated operation since 2002 during the second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.

The UN has warned that the situation in the Occupied West Bank 'could worsen dramatically if ISF continue to systematically use unlawful lethal force and ignore violence perpetrated by settlers'.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday he has started the process of asking member states if they want to impose sanctions on 'some Israeli ministers'.

'I initiated the procedure to ask the member states if they consider (it) appropriate to include in our list of sanctions some Israeli ministers (who) have been launching unacceptable hate messages against the Palestinians, and proposing things that clearly go against international law,' he told reporters ahead of a meeting with EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels.

He did not name any of the Israeli ministers to whom he was referring.

The UN's OHCR reported that 'at least four' airstrikes by the Israeli military had hit the Nur Shams Refugee Camp in Tulkarem on Monday night, leaving five dead.

Members of a Palestinian family fleeing an Israeli raid in the Nur Shams camp near the city of Tulkarem

These included three Palestinian men and two boys aged 13 and 15, the agency said.

'Three of the fatalities, including the two boys, were killed while they were passing by the targeted house, which was located in one of the small and crammed alleyways in the camp,' OHCHR said in a statement, citing multiple sources.

Israel said Abu Shujaa, who the IDF claimed had been killed in a raid coordinated by Shin Bet, was linked to numerous attacks on Israelis, including a deadly shooting in June, and was planning more.

He was reported killed earlier this year, but then made a surprise appearance at the funeral of other militants, where he was hoisted onto the shoulders of a cheering crowd. 

There was no immediate confirmation of his death from the Palestinian side today.

Israeli military vehicles drive down a road during a raid in northern city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank

The Israeli military said another militant was arrested in the operation in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, and that a member of Israel's paramilitary Border Police was lightly wounded.

Since the start of Gaza war, at least 637 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers, according to UN figures.

At least 19 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during army operations in the West Bank, according to Israeli official figures.