Israel says it ‘eliminated’ local Palestinian commander in West Bank military operation

GAZA (WS News) – The Israeli military on Thursday said it had killed Mohammed Jaber and four more Palestinians in a major military operation in the occupied West Bank. Jaber, known as Abu Shujaa, was a leader of the Tulkarem Battalion, a local militant group allied to the Islamic Jihad. His death has been confirmed by the Islamic Jihad group.

The Israeli military said it had killed five more fighters in a large-scale operation in the flashpoint city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank early Thursday, including a well-known local commander.

Jaber was “eliminated following exchanges of fire during counterterrorism operations in Tulkarm”, said an Israeli army statement posted on X.

The five fighters “hid inside a mosque” in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm, the statement added.

Jaber’s death was confirmed by Palestinian group Islamic Jihad hours later.

“Abu Shujaa, commander of the Tulkarm Brigade of the Al-Quds Brigades died along with several brothers of his brigade after a heroic battle against the soldiers of the (Israeli) occupation,” the group said in a statement.

The Tulkarm Brigade is an armed militant group affiliated with several Palestinian factions. The Al-Quds Brigades is the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, which has a strong presence in the refugee camps in the north of the occupied West Bank.

Jaber became a hero for many Palestinians earlier this year when he was reported killed in an Israeli operation, only to make a surprise appearance at the funeral of other militants, where he was hoisted onto the shoulders of a cheering crowd.

Israel launched a large-scale operation in the West Bank overnight into Wednesday. Hamas said 10 of its fighters were killed in different locations, and the Palestinian Health Ministry reported an 11th casualty, without saying whether he was a fighter or a civilian.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the October 7 attack, which ignited the Gaza war.

Nur Shams is among several built-up refugee camps across the Middle East that date back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation, in which around 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven out of what is now Israel. Many of the camps are militant strongholds.

Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.

The 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administering towns and cities. Over 500,000 Jewish settlers, who have Israeli citizenship, live in well over 100 settlements across the territory that most of the international community considers illegal.