On Friday, the Israeli army carried out an air strike on the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank, targeting, according to Israeli media, a car carrying three gunmen, in a strike that is considered less common in the West Bank compared to the ground operations that Israeli forces repeatedly carry out.
An Al Arabiya correspondent reported that the raid had occurred, while the Israeli army confirmed the attack shortly after, declaring that it had “accurately targeted a number of militants” in the area.
The army said in a brief statement: “A short while ago, the army carried out a precise strike against a number of militants in the Jenin area,” indicating that more details would be announced later.
In turn, Israeli media reported that the Air Force carried out the operation, and that the raid targeted a car carrying 3 gunmen.
In its first statement, the Israeli army did not reveal the identity of the targets or the party to which they belonged, nor did it explain the fate of the people who were inside the car, while an official Palestinian toll of the raid was not immediately issued.
Agence France-Presse described the operation as a “relatively rare” air strike in the West Bank, where Israeli forces rely more on incursions and ground operations, despite the increasing use of aircraft and drones to carry out strikes in Jenin and other areas in recent years.
Jenin and its camp are considered one of the most prominent hotspots of confrontations in the northern West Bank, and the region has repeatedly witnessed Israeli military operations and clashes with Palestinian militants, in addition to widespread arrest campaigns.
Israel says that its operations in Jenin target armed cells and sites used to plan attacks against its forces and citizens, while Palestinian authorities say that the Israeli operations also cause the death of civilians and cause extensive damage to infrastructure.
The raid comes in light of continued tension in the West Bank, awaiting the issuance of additional details from the Israeli army and Palestinian authorities regarding the identity of the targets and the outcome of the attack.
In a separate development, the Israeli army announced on Friday that it had killed, during two raids carried out on Thursday in the Gaza Strip, two members it said were leaders of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements.
The army said that one of the strikes in the beach area killed Ibrahim Nabil Ibrahim Al-Bass, whom it described as a leader in the military wing of Hamas, and accused him of participating in the October 7, 2023 attack.
He also announced the killing of Hamdi Ahmed Hamid Kahil in a strike in the Sabra area, saying that he was the leader of a monitoring platoon in Islamic Jihad.
The army added that the two recently worked to rebuild the capabilities of the two movements and plan operations, which are Israeli accusations that could not be independently verified.
