Israel kills commander in West Bank

Strikes on crowded Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza leave nine dead, 20 wounded

- MAJDI MOHAMMED AND MELANIE LIDMAN

Palestinians stand outside a heavily damaged mosque following an Israeli raid in the West Bank refugee camp of Al-Faraa on Thursday.

The Israeli military said it killed five more West Bank militants, including a local commander, as it pressed ahead Thursday with its deadliest operation in the occupied territory since the start of the war in Gaza.

Israel says the raids across the northern West Bank — which have killed a total of 16 people, nearly all militants, since late Tuesday — are aimed at preventing attacks. The Palestinians see them as a widening of the war in Gaza and an effort to perpetuate Israel’s decades-long military rule over the territory.

The raids drew alarm from the United Nations and neighbouring Jordan, as well as from British and French leaders, who stressed the urgency of ceasefire in Gaza after nearly 11 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Medics at al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said Thursday nine Palestinians from the same family — including five young children — were killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment building in the Nuseirat refugee camp. At least 20 others were wounded.