An Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinians in the Jenin area of the West Bank on August 28, 2026. The Israeli military identified one of the dead as Qais Bitawi, describing him as a Hamas militant operative involved in directing, funding, and executing attacks on Israeli civilians and security forces [1, 2, 3]. The other two killed were described by Israel as Bitawi's accomplices. Palestinian Islamic Jihad disputed this, claiming Bitawi and the two others were its fighters and that Bitawi was a senior leader in its armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades [2, 3].
The strike targeted a car or a house under construction in a western area of Jenin. Following the airstrike, Israeli ground troops raided the site, briefly detained medics, and blocked them from transporting the wounded or dead to hospital [1, 3, 4]. This airstrike was a rare use of Israeli air power in the occupied West Bank, the first such strike since February 2025 in this territory [1, 2, 4].
Violence in the West Bank has risen amid growing tensions since 2023, with frequent Israeli military raids and violent actions by Israeli settlers [1, 2, 3]. Hamas condemned the strike, mourning the deaths and calling it a "massacre perpetrated by the occupation forces through an air strike" that will be met with "further anger and confrontation," though it did not confirm Bitawi as one of its members [1, 3].
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz praised the operation. Netanyahu called it a "successful thwarting of the three targeted individuals," while Katz confirmed a permanent Israeli military presence in Jenin, stating the camp has been evacuated of residents and is now permanently garrisoned like other West Bank sites Israel deems terrorist camps [2, 3].
The next major event on this front has not been announced, but the permanent military presence in Jenin signals intensified Israeli operations in the area.
