An Israeli drone strike killed Hamas commander Qais Bitawi and 2 other operatives in Jenin.
Israel says Bitawi directed and financed attacks against civilians and security forces and maintained ties with Hamas officials in Gaza and abroad.Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian)Three Palestinian terror operatives, including a commander, were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the West Bank city of Jenin this afternoon, the military announces.
The strike had targeted Qais Bitawi, who, according to the Shin Bet, was the head of Hamas’s activities in the Jenin refugee camp.
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 IDF.
The military says troops later located a weapon inside the car.
Bitawi had acted to advance “significant terror activities and was involved in directing, financing, and carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces,” the military and Shin Bet say, adding that he also “maintained ties with Hamas in Gaza and Hamas abroad.”
The IDF adds that the slain commander is also a relative of Nour Bitawi, a previous commander of a terror network in Jenin, who was killed in an Israeli drone strike in May 2025.
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— https://x.com/manniefabian/status/2093346805140394344
