ISTANBUL

Five Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire inside a mosque in Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Thursday, the military said.

Military spokesman Avichay Adraee claimed that the five men “had hid inside the mosque” in the camp.

The spokesman said Islamic Jihad commander Muhammad Jaber, known as Abu Shujaa, was among the five, who he accused of carrying out attacks against illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

On Wednesday, the Israeli army launched a major military operation in the northern West Bank, the largest in two decades.

At least 16 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israeli operation, according to the Health Ministry.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank amid a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 40,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7 last year.

Over 660 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian figures.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar