Mohammed Shradi, commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades for the Tulkarem area, was touring the town’s refugee camp when Israeli troops disguised as Palestinians opened fire from a house they had seized.

His right-hand man Samir Maarek was hit, although the seriousness of his wounds remained unclear, the sources said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said that troops had “spotted an armed Palestinian approaching and opened fire”.

“Other terrorists opened fire on a different army unit at the same time, but there were no casualties,” she said.

An armed offshoot of the dominant Fatah faction, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs have their main stronghold in the northern West Bank.