An Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Friday, according to Palestinian officials and the Israeli military, marking a rare use of air power in the territory amid rising tensions.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted three militants in the Jenin area. It identified one of those killed as 22-year-old Qais Bitawi and described him as a Hamas operative linked to a militant network in the northern West Bank.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said it had received reports that three men in their 20s died after an Israeli drone targeted them in Jenin. The ministry said the Israeli authorities were withholding their bodies.
Israeli Military Says Strike Targeted Militants
According to the Israeli military, Bitawi helped organize and support militant activities, including funding and carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces.
The military also alleged that he maintained connections with Hamas members in Gaza and abroad.
Israeli forces said they found weapons inside the vehicle used by the three men.
However, Palestinian armed groups gave different accounts of the identities of those killed.
Hamas condemned the attack and warned that it would increase anger and confrontation.
The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said Bitawi served as one of its commanders and described his death as an Israeli assassination.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, meanwhile, said all three men belonged to its armed wing.
Rare Israeli Airstrike in the West Bank
Israeli military raids frequently take place across the occupied West Bank. However, airstrikes remain far less common than ground operations, particularly compared with Israel’s extensive air campaign in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
The latest strike came as violence continues to affect the northern West Bank.
Israeli forces launched a major campaign known as Operation Iron Wall in early 2025. The operation focused on Palestinian armed groups in Jenin and other parts of the northern West Bank.
Israeli authorities say the campaign aims to dismantle militant networks and prevent attacks against Israelis.
During the operation, Israeli forces deployed tanks in Jenin, a city that has long been associated with Palestinian armed activity.
Thousands Displaced From Jenin Camps
The military campaign has also caused a major displacement crisis.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, estimates that nearly 40,000 people have been displaced from refugee camps affected by the operation.
The situation has also created difficulties for emergency responders.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces briefly detained members of its medical crews after they arrived at the site of Friday’s strike.
According to the organization, the soldiers confiscated medical equipment and ordered the crews to leave without allowing them to evacuate patients.
The Israeli military did not immediately provide a detailed response to that allegation.
West Bank Violence Continues
The West Bank has experienced a sharp increase in violence since the Gaza war began.
According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian Authority figures, at least 1,100 Palestinians have died in the West Bank since October 7, 2023. The victims include armed fighters as well as civilians.
Israeli authorities have also recorded deaths during the same period.
Official Israeli figures show that at least 48 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, have died in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has also emerged as a major concern.
The latest airstrike adds another layer of tension to an already volatile situation in the occupied territory.
Israel Has Controlled the West Bank Since 1967
Israel captured the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East war and has maintained control over the territory since then.
The Oslo Accords of the 1990s created limited Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank through the Palestinian Authority.
However, the Palestinian political landscape remains divided.
The Palestinian Authority, dominated by President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement, has long been a rival of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
Friday’s deadly strike in Jenin highlights the continuing instability in the northern West Bank and the increasingly difficult security and humanitarian situation facing Palestinians and Israelis.
