In ongoing West Bank operation, Israeli forces kill five 'terrorists' hiding inside mosque

Aug. 29 (UPI) -- In Israel's ongoing counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank, soldiers killed five "terrorists" in a mosque, its military said Thursday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces has been conducting an operation in the occupied Palestinian territory since Tuesday night, resulting in a growing death toll and condemnation from international humanitarian organizations.

In a statement Thursday, the IDF said in an operation of its fighters, Shin Bet security agency agents and others killed five alleged terrorists "who where hiding in a mosque" in Tulkarm, in western West Bank.

It said they were killed following a firefight.

The IDF identified one of those killed as the head of a terrorist organization in Nur Shams, a Palestinian refugee camp in northwestern West Bank.

It also said one Israeli soldier was "slightly injured" near the end of the operation and was taken to the hospital. IDF Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee added that one person was arrested.

Adraee said a laboratory for the manufacturing of explosive devices was found hidden inside the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq mosque by soldiers searching overnight through the Far'a refugee camp.

"The dangerous explosive devices, which were too dangerous to use or even move, posed a threat to the forces and to the residents living near the mosque, and therefore the engineering forces destroyed the devices on the spot in a way that did not harm the prayer hall or any holy place," he said, adding that a fire did break out but was extinguished.

#عاجل خلال الأنشطة لاحباط الإرهاب في مخيم الفارعة في الأغوار تم العثور على غرفة عمليات ومختبر لصناعة العبوات الناسفة تم اخفائهما داخل مسجد أبو بكر الصديق حيث استخدمهما المخربون لتنفيذ أعمال إرهابية ضد قوات جيش الدفاع.

العبوات الخطيرة للاستخدام أو حتى للتحريك شكلت تهديدًا على... pic.twitter.com/mbfi1caZ6L — افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) August 28, 2024

At least 17 Palestinians have been killed and more than 30 have been injured during the operation, the state-run Palestinian WAFA news agency reported, increasing the death toll from 11 the day before.

It said it was the largest Israeli invasion of the Palestinian territory since 2002. Gov. Kamal Abu al-Rub of Jenin, where eight Palestinians were reportedly killed, told WAFA that Israeli forces have besieged his city, bulldozing streets and infrastructure, destroying vehicles and homes.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the ongoing situation in the West Bak was "deeply concerning."

"I strongly condemn the loss of lives, including of children, and I call for an immediate cessations of these operations," he said in a statement , while calling for the end of the Israeli occupation.

"Only an end to the occupation and a return to a meaningful political process that will establish a two-state solution will bring an end to the violence," he said.

The United Nation's Human Rights Office also condemned the military response as a violation of international law that "risks further enflaming an already explosive situation."

Meanwhile, Amnesty International warned that the ongoing military operations "will undoubtedly lead to an escalation in deadly violence" and the loss of Palestinian lives.

"Israel's launch of a major coordinated military assault on cities and towns across the occupied West Bank follows an escalation in unlawful killings by Israeli forces in recent months and will put more Palestinians at risk," Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International's senior director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, said in a statement .

"It is likely that these operations will result in an increase in forced displacement, destruction of critical infrastructure and measures of collective punishment, which have been key pillars of Israel's system of apartheid against Palestinians and of its unlawful occupation of the occupied Palestinian territory."

Israel seized the West Bank following the Six Day War in 1967, but its occupation of the region and construction of settlement outposts have been widely viewed as illegal under international law, and has attracted the repeated criticism and condemnation of the United Nations and the wider international community.

The region has also since an increase in violence amid Israel's war against Hamas that began on Oct. 7 with the militant groups brutal assault on the Middle Eastern country.

Between the start of the war and Monday, 622 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, 602 by Israeli forces, according to a Wednesday update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.