Israeli security forces killed five Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists hiding in a mosque overnight as part of a major counterterror operation in Judea and Samaria.

Described as Israel’s largest counterterror operation in months, the IDF’s incursion was reportedly sparked by intelligence suggesting imminent threats to Israeli civilians. One of the terrorists eliminated has been identified as Muhammad Jabber, “Abu Shujaa,” the head of a PIJ terrorist network in the Nur Shams refugee camp.

Shujaa was involved in carrying out numerous terror attacks against Israel, including a shooting attack in June which killed a 67-year-old. He had proved to be an elusive target for Israel. Earlier this year, Israeli media reported that he had been killed during a raid before he arrived at his own funeral days later alive and well.

Recent raids have focused on the Jenin, Nur al-Shams and El Fara refugee camps located in northern Samaria and the Arab village of Tubas which is near Shechem. Dozens of terror suspects have been taken in for questioning, including those connected to senior Hamas leader Saleh Arouri who was recently assassinated in Beirut.

According to an IDF spokesperson, the operation is expected to continue for an “extended” period of time. The Health Ministry in Ramallah claims that the civilian death toll from the raids has risen to 12, but that has not yet been verified by the army. Since October 7, more than 4,400 terror suspects in Judea and Samaria have been arrested, of whom around 1,850 are affiliated with Hamas.