Israeli Strike West Bank Kills Three Fighters Near Jenin City

West Bank – (Special Correspondent/Web Desk) – An Israeli strike West Bank forces carried out on Friday has killed three fighters in the northern city of Jenin. The Israeli military confirmed the attack, calling it a rare move in a territory that had mostly avoided air strikes.

For months, Gaza has seen the heaviest fighting since the October 7, 2023 attacks. The West Bank, however, has stayed mostly free from air strikes, even as ground raids continued. The last known strike there took place in February 2025.

Photos taken after the attack showed Israeli soldiers pulling a body from a house that was still being built on the edge of Jenin. The scene reflected the sudden and unexpected nature of the strike.

The Israeli army named one of the men killed as Qais Bitawi. Officials described him as a Hamas operative linked to a militant network based in Jenin. They said his group had already been dismantled during an earlier operation.

However, Palestinian Islamic Jihad gave a different account. The group said Bitawi and the other two men killed were its own fighters, not members of Hamas. It called Bitawi one of the top commanders of its armed wing in the West Bank.

The Israeli military said Bitawi had helped organize, fund, and carry out attacks against Israeli civilians and security personnel. It also claimed he kept contact with Hamas leaders in Gaza and with Hamas members living outside the country.

Officials said the two other men killed alongside Bitawi were traveling with him. Weapons were reportedly found inside their vehicle at the time of the strike.

Hamas responded with anger, calling the strike a massacre. The group warned that the attack would only lead to more resistance and confrontation in the days ahead.

Israeli leaders, meanwhile, praised the operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz both congratulated the military. Katz said the strike reflected Israel’s ongoing effort to act early against threats instead of waiting for attacks to happen.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its emergency crews were briefly stopped by Israeli forces after arriving at the scene. It added that its medical equipment was taken and its teams were told to leave before treating anyone.

According to the Israeli military, the militant network in Jenin had already been broken up under an operation known as Iron Wall. This large campaign began in early 2025 and focused on Palestinian refugee camps in the northern West Bank.

As part of that operation, Israeli tanks were sent into Jenin, a city long known as a center of armed resistance.

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said the ongoing military campaign has forced nearly 40,000 people to leave their homes in the camps.

Since October 2023, more than 1,100 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers, based on figures gathered from Palestinian Authority data. During the same time, Israeli figures show at least 48 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have died in Palestinian attacks or related military actions.

Israel has controlled the West Bank since 1967. Limited self-rule was later granted to the Palestinian Authority through the Oslo Accords in the 1990s. The Fatah movement, which leads the Authority, remains a longtime political rival of Hamas.