Israeli forces killed three Palestinian terrorists in the Jenin area of northern Samaria on Friday, including Qais Bitawi, a senior Hamas operative, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Bitawi was eliminated in a joint IDF and Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) operation, in an Israeli Air Force airstrike on a vehicle that was carrying two additional accomplices, the military said.
The IDF added that weapons were found in the vehicle.
“Bitawi was involved in advancing significant terrorist activity, including directing, funding and executing terror attacks against Israeli civilians and the security forces. Additionally, he maintained ties with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and with Hamas operatives abroad,” the army stated.
Bitawi was a family member of Noor Bitawi, commander of the Jenin terrorist network that was dismantled during “Operation Iron Wall” in May 2025, according to the IDF.
Israeli security forces will continue to operate to thwart terrorism in Judea and Samaria, the military added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Israeli forces on the successful operation, praising the initiative on X.
Defense Minister Israel Katz extended his congratulations as well, expressing his appreciation for the IDF, Shin Bet and Israel Police.
The camp Bitawi commanded before 2025 “has been evacuated of residents and conquered by the IDF, and it has been cleansed of terrorists and terror infrastructure,” Katz wrote on X in a Hebrew language statement.
Katz went on to say that the IDF remains in the Jenin camp “permanently, like other terror camps in Judea and Samaria, and he [Bitawi] himself was pursued until he was located and eliminated.”
The defense minister continued, “These are the fruits of the aggressive and proactive policy we are leading in Judea and Samaria: We do not wait for terror, we pursue it, conquer its strongholds and thwart its people. This policy has already led to a decrease of about 80% in terror activity.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Thursday ordered the alert level raised in Judea and Samaria ahead of the Jewish holidays, citing tensions in the area and directing the military to prepare additional forces for rapid reinforcement.
Zamir placed the headquarters of an additional active-duty division on heightened readiness and ordered units prepared for immediate activation in the sector, according to the IDF. He also said the military would maintain full multi-front readiness during the holiday period, with no operational stand-downs or reductions in troop levels.
Israel’s 2026 High Holiday season begins with Rosh Hashanah at sundown on Sept. 11, followed by Yom Kippur beginning at sundown on Sept. 20 and Sukkot beginning at sundown on Sept. 25.
During the military’s operation in Samaria in May 2025, it introduced fighting methods to the area developed during the war against Hamas in Gaza, according to a Channel 12 report at the time.
With the Jenin camp functioning before the operation as the main stronghold of the Palestinian terrorists, the IDF established “screening” points around it and ordered the civilian population to evacuate.
The army would establish a permanent military base in the area to consolidate operational gains and prevent the resurgence of unified terrorist infrastructures in northern Samaria, a military source told JNS at the time.
