Israeli army carries out rare West Bank air strike, killing three militants
Israel's military said it killed three militants, including a Hamas-linked operative, in a rare air strike near Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Friday. The last such strike in the territory took place in February 2025.
The Israeli military said Friday it killed three militants in an air strike in the occupied West Bank, a rare occurrence in a territory that has seen rising tension but, unlike Gaza, has largely avoided air strikes since October 2023. The last such strike in the West Bank took place in February 2025.
AFP photos showed Israeli soldiers removing a body from a house under construction on the outskirts of Jenin, a city in the northern West Bank. The military said "three terrorists" were eliminated in the Jenin area, naming one as Qais Bitawi, described as a Hamas operative within a dismantled militant network in the city. However, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad said Bitawi and the two others killed were its own fighters, calling Bitawi one of the most prominent leaders of the Al-Quds Brigades in the West Bank.
According to the Israeli military, Bitawi had been involved in directing, funding and executing attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces, and maintained ties with Hamas both in Gaza and abroad. Two of his associates were also killed in the strike, and weapons were reportedly found in their vehicle. Hamas condemned the strike as a "massacre," warning it would provoke further anger and confrontation.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its crews were briefly detained by Israeli forces at the scene, with their medical equipment confiscated and orders given to leave without evacuating any patients.
Operation 'Iron Wall'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz both praised the forces involved in the operation. The military said the Jenin network had been dismantled as part of Operation Iron Wall, a large-scale campaign launched in early 2025 targeting armed groups in refugee camps across the northern West Bank. The operation has included tank deployments in Jenin and has displaced nearly 40,000 people, according to UNRWA figures.
Since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, at least 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, while official Israeli figures put the death toll among Israelis over the same period at at least 48.