Three Palestinian terror operatives, including a senior commander, were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday afternoon, the military announced, marking a rare airstrike in the territory.
The strike targeted Qais Bitawi, who, according to the Shin Bet security agency, was the head of Hamas’s activities in the Jenin refugee camp, widely seen as a hotbed of terrorist activity.
IDF troops and members of the police’s elite Yamam unit launched an operation to kill Bitawi, following information provided by the Shin Bet of his whereabouts.
After Bitawi and two of his accomplices were spotted exiting a car next to a structure in Jenin, the Israeli Air Force carried out a drone strike against them, killing the trio, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The decision to carry out the airstrike came after the three terror operatives were identified as armed, a military official said.
