Israel kills militant leaders as West Bank raids continue

UN warns that military operation violates international law

- RACHEL HAGAN

Israel said it has killed five Palestinian militants - including a commander of Islamic Jihad - during a second day of raids in the occupied West Bank.

The attack comes after at least 10 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank on the first day of what Israel calls a major counterterrorism operation. The Palestinians see the raids as a widening of the Israeli war against Hamas inside Gaza aimed at perpetuating Israel's decades-long military rule over the territory.

Islamic Jihad confirmed that Mohammed Jaber, known as Abu Shujaa, was killed during a raid in the city of Tulkarm. He was previously reported killed in an Israeli operation earlier in the year, only to make a surprise appearance at the funeral of other militants.

The Israeli military said he was killed early yesterday along with four other militants in a shootout with Israeli forces after the five had hidden inside a mosque. It said Abu Shujaa was linked to numerous attacks on Israelis, including a deadly shooting in June, and was planning more. The military said another militant was arrested in the operation in Tulkarm, and that a member of Israel’s paramilitary Border Police was lightly wounded.

Tulkarm is one of four areas in the occupied territory that Israeli media say could be the scene of a days-long operation. The UN Human Rights Office said the Israeli military’s operation in the West Bank was being conducted “in a manner which violates international law and risks further enflaming an already explosive situation”. Israel insists that its forces are targeting “terror groups and terror cells”.