Israel Kills Hamas Jenin Chief in Rare West Bank Drone Strike

An Israeli drone struck a vehicle in Jenin on Friday, killing three Palestinians. The Shin Bet security service identified the primary target as Qais Bitawi, whom it described as the head of Hamas operations in Jenin. Al Jazeera and the Times of Israel report it as the first Israeli airstrike in the West Bank since February 2025.

What We Know

The IDF said the strike targeted Bitawi and two accomplices described as Hamas operatives, according to the Times of Israel. All three were killed. Shin Bet said Bitawi led Hamas’s operational cell structure in Jenin, the northern West Bank city that has been the center of repeated IDF ground operations over the past two years.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the defense minister publicly praised the operation. Netanyahu called it a “successful thwarting of the terrorists in Jenin,” per the Jerusalem Post. Hamas condemned the strike as a “crime” and called for Israeli operations to stop, Al Jazeera reported.

The roughly 18-month gap since the last West Bank airstrike is significant. Since a major IDF ground operation in Jenin in early 2025, Israel had relied almost exclusively on arrest raids rather than aerial strikes in the West Bank.

What We Don’t Know

It is not yet clear whether Friday’s strike marks a deliberate policy shift toward resumed West Bank air operations or whether it was an exceptional targeted killing against a specific high-value figure. The Palestinian Authority’s formal response had not been reported at time of publication, nor has any Hamas announcement of retaliatory intent.

Context

Jenin has been a recurring flashpoint in the West Bank, with the IDF conducting large-scale ground incursions into the Jenin refugee camp in 2023 and 2025. The return to drone strikes follows a period in which broader ceasefire negotiations consumed Israeli military and diplomatic attention. Friday’s operation echoes tactics used frequently before the 2025 operation pause, when vehicle strikes against militant convoys were a regular feature of West Bank counterterrorism activity.

The strike comes as Israeli forces also conducted drone operations in southern Lebanon on Friday, per Middle East Eye, pointing to a broad operational tempo across multiple fronts simultaneously.

What to Watch

1. Whether the IDF conducts additional West Bank airstrikes in the coming days, which would confirm a policy shift rather than a one-off targeted killing.
2. The Palestinian Authority’s formal response and whether it escalates diplomatic pressure at the United Nations or through regional partners.
3. Any Hamas announcement of intent to retaliate, particularly in the West Bank or via affiliated armed groups in Lebanon or Gaza.