Israeli Forces Kill Local Hamas Commander in West Bank

Israeli forces killed on Friday a local commander of the Islamist movement Hamas in the city of Jenin as they pressed a major operation in the occupied West Bank for a third day,.

The Israeli military said Border Police forces had killed Wassem Hazem, who it said was the head of Hamas in Jenin and was allegedly involved in shooting and bombing attacks in the Palestinian territory.

Two other Hamas gunmen who tried to escape the car they were all travelling in were killed by a drone, it said. 

The military added, "Weapons, explosives and large sums of cash were found in the vehicle. There was no immediate comment from Hamas,".

The incident occurred as Israeli forces kept up a large-scale operation involving hundreds of troops and police that was launched in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Jenin and Tulkarm, another city in the northern West Bank as well as the Jordan Valley.

Israeli armored personnel carriers backed by helicopters and drones pushed into Jenin and Tulkarm on Friday while armored bulldozers ploughed up roads to destroy roadside bombs planted by the militant groups.

The fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants still rages in the Gaza Strip nearly 11 months since it began as well as clashes with the Hezbollah movement in the Israel-Lebanon border area have intensified.

Since the Hamas-Israel attack last October that triggered the Gaza war, more than 660 Palestinians - combatants and civilians - have been killed in the West Bank, according to Palestinian tallies, some by Israeli troops and some by Jewish settlers who have carried out frequent attacks on West Bank Palestinian communities.

The British government said on Friday it was "deeply concerned" by Israel's operation in the West Bank and said there was an urgent need for de-escalation.

"We recognize Israel's need to defend itself against security threats, but we are deeply worried by the methods Israel has employed and by reports of civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure," a Foreign Office statement said.