Israel’s large-scale military operations in the occupied West Bank entered a second day on Thursday, with the Israeli military saying it had killed five militants in the city of Tulkarm.

Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, said 17 people had been killed in all in raids across the territory that began before dawn on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Israeli military was raiding dozens of homes in Tulkarm and had closed entrances to the nearby Nur Shams neighbourhood, according to the news agency.

Israel’s military said the five killed on Thursday were militants who were inside a mosque, including a top commander, Muhammad Jaber, who was known as Abu Shujaa. Jaber led the local branch of the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which confirmed his death.

The exact circumstances of the deaths were disputed. Faisal Salameh, head of the services committee of Tulkarm camp, said that five people there had been killed in a strike around 5am on Thursday, including Jaber. He said they had been attacked while hiding in a home next to a mosque and that there were no clashes.

The New York Times could not verify either of the accounts of the episode.

The Israeli forces took Jabr’s body, along with the bodies of two others killed, and detained a man whose leg had been broken, Salameh said. Explosions were also heard in Jenin, where Israeli troops were operating in the eastern part of the city, Wafa reported. A spokesman for the Israeli military said Jenin and Tulkarm had become militant strongholds.

Riyad Awad, the head of the city council in Tulkarm, said the Israeli military was raiding his city, along with two neighbourhoods known as Tulkarm camp and Nur Shams camp, for a second day, and many residents were unable to leave their homes.

New York Times News Service