IDF Says Forces Killed Three Terrorists Killed in Operation in Northern West Bank - Israel News
The Israeli army and the Shin Bet security service announced Tuesday that forces killed three terrorists in the northern West Bank who it says were planning a terrorist attack.
According to the joint statement, two of the militants were shot dead by snipers from the police's Special Anti-Terror Unit, while in a cave in the area of the village of Kafr Qud, near Jenin.
The third terrorist was wounded by gunfire and later killed when the Israeli Air Force conducted an airstrike, "in order to damage the terror infrastructure," according to police.
The police alleged the three belonged to a "terror cell that took part in terrorist organizing in the Jenin refugee camp." Palestinian sources said they were active in the Jenin Brigade, a local cell of armed fighters from different Palestinian factions. According to the sources, the three hid in the cave after fleeing from Israeli military operations in the Jenin refugee camp since the beginning of the year.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank stated the three men killed are Abdallah Mohammed Omar Jalamneh, 27, Kais Ibrahim Mohammed al-Bitawi, 21, and Ahmed Azmi Aref Nushrati, 29. Following the killings, Hamas called to escalate their conflict with Israel on all fronts, urging Palestinians to "unite on the ground and in politics."
In January, the IDF launched an expansive "counter-terrorism operation" in Jenin, with several special forces, the Border Police and the Shin Bet taking part. The operation, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, began with air force drones conducting aerial strikes targeting weapons stockpiles, as ground forces entered the refugee camp.
The military's stated goals for the operation were listed as ensuring the army's freedom of action across the West Bank, while targeting terrorist infrastructure and immediate threats.
Over the course of the operation, at least 30,000 Palestinians were displaced from their homes in refugee camps in the northern West Bank, with around half being forced to leave from the Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps.
Jenin refugee camp, before and after the IDF operation in the West Bank, 2024-2025. Credit: Planet Labs PBCIn March, the IDF announced its intention to demolish about 95 homes in the Jenin refugee camp and around 85 homes in the Al Ein refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus, with the stated goal being to change the routes of roads inside the camps and widen them so they'll be accessible to armored vehicles.
Satellite images of the refugee camps published in April showed the extent of the destruction as a result of the last two months of the IDF operations in the West Bank.
According to estimations by the Jenin municipality and UNRWA, around 600 houses in the camp have been rendered uninhabitable or otherwise entirely destroyed since the start of the operation, amounting to about a third of the camp's housing.
UNRWA estimates that about 150 homes have been made uninhabitable in each of the Nur al-Shams and Tulkarm refugee camps. However, the organization says it is difficult to make precise estimates because it does not have access to the camps.