JENIN, West Bank, Aug 28 (Reuters) – An Israeli strike killed a Hamas operative and two of his accomplices in the West Bank on Friday, the military said, in a rare use of deadly air power in the occupied territory.
Hamas confirmed the man that Israel named as Qais Bitawi was one of its members and condemned the attack that killed him. The allied Islamic Jihad militant group also claimed him as a member.
The air strike targeted a car in the area of Jenin in the northern West Bank, the Israeli military and medics said.
The West Bank has seen a surge in militant Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians as well as military raids into Palestinian towns. The northern West Bank, where Jenin sits, was the site of a major Israeli assault last year, which the military says was aimed at targeting Palestinian militant strongholds.
In a statement, the military said Bitawi was involved in directing, funding and executing attacks on Israeli civilians and security forces. It said he maintained ties with Hamas members in Gaza, where the group is based, as well as abroad.
The Palestine Red Crescent ambulance service said Israeli ground troops raided the site of the drone strike, briefly detained medics and prevented them from transporting those wounded or killed to hospital.
Israel’s military did not immediately provide comment on the ambulance service’s statements.
Israel’s 2025 operations in the northern West Bank forced thousands of Palestinians from their homes, with Israeli forces clearing out refugee camps and maintaining their longest presence in some West Bank cities for decades.
Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity over what it said were forced expulsions. Israel denies committing such crimes.
In Gaza, where the U.S. has been working to salvage a deal that would disarm Hamas militants in exchange for Israel withdrawing from the territory, at least five Palestinians were killed in three Israeli strikes on Friday, Gaza health officials said.
Those incidents included an Israeli strike near Deir Al-Balah that killed three people from the same family; a strike on a motorbike that killed one in Gaza City; and a separate strike in Gaza City that killed one Palestinian, according to health officials.
The Israeli military did not immediately provide comment on the strikes.
(Reporting by Mohamad Torokman, Ali Sawafta, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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