Israeli military says it killed 5 more militants including local commander in massive West Bank operation

The Israeli military said it killed at least five militants "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.

Israel has conducted near-daily raids in the West Bank since it launched its offensive in Gaza, where more than 40,000 people have been killed, according to local health officials, following Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attacks, in which some 1,200 people were killed and and around 250 others taken hostage.

On Thursday, some of the family members of those who remain held hostage in Gaza took part in a planned protest near the enclave's border — but the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents hostage families, said that "in their immense grief, the families broke through the fence, running towards the Gaza border."

They were told by Israeli security forces to turn back and returned to nearby Kibbutz Nirim, the forum said.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that several Israeli civilians had approached the border of area of the Gaza Strip, but said they did not cross the border fence.

"The forces have removed the civilians, and there is no concern about crossing into Gaza," they said.