Middle East: Israeli forces kill 5 in West Bank mosque

Relatives of some of the Israeli hostages taken to Gaza in the October 7 attacks have broken through a border fence into the Palestinian territory to stage a protest.

Dozens of people gathered to call out to their loved ones on loudspeakers, hoping they would be heard.

The demonstrators were seen carrying signs with pictures of the hostages.

The mother of an abducted soldier was said to have addressed her daughter, saying, "I'm sorry that we haven't managed yet, but I promise you that you will come back."

More than 100 hostages remain in the hands of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, 328 days after the attacks on southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people died, most of them civilians. It is unclear exactly how many of them are still alive, but a recent Israeli estimate said a third are likely to have died. 

Relatives of the remaining hostages have repeatedly demanded a cease-fire agreement with Hamas with the hope that this will also yield the release of the captives. Hostage relatives claim the Israeli government has not done enough to secure any such deal.

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad announced the death of its commander in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem, where the Israeli military said it had "eliminated" five militants on Thursday. 

They included Muhammad Jabber, also known as Abu Shujaa.

"Abu Shujaa, commander of the Tulkarem Brigade of the Al-Quds Brigades," the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, "died along with several brothers of his brigade after a heroic battle against the soldiers of the [Israeli] occupation", the group said in a statement.

Islamic Jihad has been designated a terrorist organization in multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, the European Union and Israel.

European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said Thursday that he started the process of asking the 27 EU member nations if they want to impose sanctions on some Israeli ministers.

He said some Israeli ministers issued "hate messages" against Palestinians and proposed ideas that amounted to an invitation to commit war crimes.

Borrell's comments came ahead of an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

The German DPA news agency reported sanctions could target Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are far-right coalition partners of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both officials are advocates of settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, which the highest UN court considers illegal.

Ben-Gvir recently called for an end to aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip to pressure the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, which several countries consider a terrorist group, to end the conflict.

Smotrich made a similar statement, suggesting a possible blockade of aid until all Israeli hostages held by Hamas were released. He described this as morally justified, even if it meant risking the lives of 2 million people in the Gaza Strip.

According to Israel, Hamas still holds 107 hostages in Gaza, although at least a third of them are believed to be dead.

Hamas sparked the Gaza war with October 7 attacks on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of some 1,200 people, largely civilians. Israel's retaliatory military operations in Gaza have killed more than 40,000 people, among them thousands of children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which is part of the Hamas-run government there.

Israeli forces killed five gunmen in a mosque in the West Bank's Tulkarem, according to a joint statement released by the Israeli military and Shin Bet security service and border police.

Among those killed was Muhammad Jaber, known as Abu Shujaa, who Israeli intelligence agencies accuse of planning a shooting in June that killed an Israeli man.

The Israeli military said another militant was arrested in the operation in Tulkarem, and that a member of Israel's paramilitary Border Police was lightly wounded.

Israel launched a large-scale operation in the West Bank overnight into Wednesday.

The Israeli military announced that it recovered the body of an Israeli soldier killed in the October 7 terror attacks in southern Israel.

It said the rescue operation took place overnight and that his name would not be published at the request of his family.

"The soldier fell during the October 7th massacre and he was taken hostage in the Gaza Strip," the military said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Israeli effort and said he would continue to do everything possible to bring home all "of the remaining hostages and bodies."

There are still some 108 hostages remaining in Gaza being held by Hamas and other groups. Around a third of these are thought to have died, with the fate of the others unknown.

The UN's World Food Program (WFP) issued a statement of its own after bullets were fired at a humanitarian convoy in Gaza, as it was a WFP vehicle that was struck. 

It said it was "pausing the movement of its employees in Gaza until further notice after a WFP team came under fire on the evening of August 27, a few meters from an Israeli checkpoint at the Wadi Gaza bridge." 

"Despite being clearly marked and receiving multiple clearances by Israeli authorities to approach, the vehicle was directly struck by gunfire as it was moving towards an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) checkpoint," the WFP said describing the incident

"It sustained at least ten bullets: five on the driver’s side, two on the passenger side and three on other parts of the vehicle. None of the employees onboard were physically harmed."

Its press release included an image of a WFP vehicle with several clear bullet impact points visible on both of the windows on the driver's side doors of the vehicle. 

"This is totally unacceptable and the latest in a series of unnecessary security incidents that have endangered the lives of WFP's team in Gaza," said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. "As last night's events show, the current deconfliction system is failing and this cannot go on any longer. I call on the Israeli authorities and all parties to the conflict to act immediately and to ensure the safety and security of all aid workers in Gaza." 

The spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters late on Wednesday that a UN vehicle in an aid convoy in Gaza had come under fire, despite the convoy's movements being agreed upon in coordination with the IDF. 

"A clearly marked humanitarian vehicle, part of a convoy that had been fully coordinated with the IDF, was struck 10 times by IDF gunfire, including with bullets targeting front windows," Stephane Dujarric said, adding that the two occupants were unharmed. 

"This is the latest incident to underscore that systems in place for coordination are not working, and we continue to work with the IDF to ensure that incidents like that do not happen again," he told reporters. 

"We have no way to assess the mindset of those who are shooting at us," he added, saying he could not be sure if information on the convoy's movement had reached Israeli officials in the relevant areas. 

The incident took place late on August 27, with the UN first commenting on it publicly on Wednesday.

It's not the first case of a UN vehicle being hit since the start of Israel's military operations in Gaza following Hamas' October 7 terror attacks on Israel. 

In May, a UN staff member from India was killed when their vehicle was struck by what the UN said was tank fire in southern Gaza. 

msh/ab (AFP, dpa, Reuters, AP)