Israeli military says 5 militants killed hiding in mosque

The Israeli military said a well-known local commander was among five militants killed after having “hidden inside a mosque” on Thursday, as it pressed ahead with the biggest operation in the occupied West Bank in more than 20 years.

Israeli troops launched the sweeping raids early Wednesday, raising international alarm as the U.S. ally wages an ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip and engages in a standoff with Iran that has fueled fears of a widening regional conflict.

The 5 deaths Israeli authorities reported in the city of Tulkarem, including that of a local commander, added to 9 militants they said were killed a day earlier. Palestinian health officials had said Wednesday that at least 11 people had been killed, while Hamas had said that 10 of its fighters have been killed across multiple locations, according to The Associated Press.

Comments from Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz saying Israeli forces must implement similar measures being carried out in Gaza in the West Bank sparked alarm on the international stage, with Josep Borrell, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, warning operations there cannot become an “extension” of Israel’s deadly monthslong offensive in Gaza.

Borrell warned that Katz’s comments threatened “to fuel further instability” in a region where the international community has sought to avoid an all-out war amid warnings from Iran that it plans to retaliate following the high-profile assassinations of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

Israeli authorities said in a statement Thursday morning that troops had killed at least five militants “following exchanges of fire.” They identified one of the men killed as Muhhamad Jabber, known as “Abu Shujaa,” who they said was the “head of a terrorist network in Nur Shams.”

They said Jabber was involved in “carrying out numerous terror attacks,” including a shooting attack in which an Israeli man, Amnon Muchtar, was killed in June.

It comes after sweeping raids in Jenin, Tulkarem and Al-Faraa marked what appeared to be the largest Israeli operation in the West Bank since what Israeli officials called Operation Defensive Shield during the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising.