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Jenin, Palestinian Territories: The Israeli military said it struck and killed three militants on Friday in the occupied West Bank, a rare airstrike in the Palestinian territory that has seen growing tension.<\/strong><\/p>\n The West Bank, a partly semi-autonomous territory home to the Palestinian Authority, has seen soaring violence by Israeli settlers but has recently avoided Israeli military strikes that have devastated the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023 attacks.<\/p>\n Military raids on Palestinian towns in the West Bank are common, but Israeli strikes have been rare since the start of 2025.<\/p>\n AFP photos showed Israeli soldiers on Friday removing a body from a house under construction on the outskirts of the northern West Bank city of Jenin.<\/p>\n \u201cThree eliminated in the Jenin area,\u201d the Israeli military said, naming one as Qais Bitawi, whom it described as a Hamas operative in a dismantled Jenin militant network.<\/p>\n The Palestinian health ministry said it had been informed of the death of three men in their 20s, including 22-year-old Bitawi, after they were \u201ctargeted by a drone\u201d in Jenin, adding that their bodies were being withheld.<\/p>\n The military said Bitawi had been involved in advancing militant activity \u201cincluding directing, funding and executing\u2026 attacks against Israeli civilians and the security forces\u201d.<\/p>\n It added that he had \u201cmaintained ties with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and with Hamas operatives abroad\u201d.<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s airstrike also killed two of his accomplices, the military said, adding that weapons had been found in their vehicle.<\/p>\n In a statement, Hamas denounced the strike and said it \u201cwill be met only with further anger and confrontation\u201d.<\/p>\n Hamas\u2019s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said Bitawi was one of its commanders, adding he was killed \u201cfollowing a cowardly assassination operation\u2026 alongside his fellow martyrs\u201d.<\/p>\n The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, however, said in a statement that Bitawi and the two others killed were its fighters.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz both congratulated Israel\u2019s forces on the operation.<\/p>\n\u2013 Operation \u2018Iron Wall\u2019 \u2013<\/h2>\n