Arabic version: غارة إسرائيلية تقتل ثلاثة فلسطينيين في جنين

According to Al Jazeera, the Israeli army killed three Palestinians in Jenin in the occupied West Bank in a rare air strike on Friday. The Israeli military said it had “eliminated” three people, identifying one as Qais Bitawi, whom it described as a Hamas operative, along with two accomplices.

An Israeli military spokesperson said the strike targeted a car carrying the men. Hamas condemned the attack but did not claim Bitawi as a member. Palestinian Islamic Jihad said Bitawi was a senior operative in its armed wing.

The Palestine Red Crescent ambulance service said Israeli ground troops raided the drone-strike site, briefly detained medics and prevented them from taking wounded or killed people to hospital. It said its personnel were detained after arriving at the scene. The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that a house under construction in western Jenin City was targeted and that three Palestinians were killed instantly.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the operation a “successful thwarting” in a post on X. Defence Minister Israel Katz congratulated the military, police and Shin Bet, saying the Jenin camp had been “evacuated of residents” and that Israeli forces were permanently stationed there.

Hamas mourned those killed and called on the international community to act to “stop these crimes and end impunity”. The report said Israel last carried out a strike in the West Bank in February 2025. The Jenin attack came as separate Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least five people and a United States-led Board of Peace representative warned that failures to follow a peace roadmap threatened the Gaza ceasefire.