Israeli forces kill senior Palestinian fighter in Jenin

RAMALLAH, Palestine: The Israeli military said on Saturday it killed a senior Palestinian fighter during an air strike in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

“A number of significant persons were inside the compound,” the Israeli military claimed in a statement posted to Telegram.

It said the strike by a fighter jet and helicopter killed Islam Khamayseh, a “senior operative in the Jenin Camp” who was responsible for a series of attacks in the area.

The Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, confirmed in a statement that Khamayseh was killed, and several others wounded during an Israeli attack on Friday night.

It said Khamayseh was a leader of the Jenin Battalion, which is affiliated with Islamic Jihad.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said one person was killed and eight were wounded and receiving hospital treatment as a result of Israel’s attack in Jenin on Friday night.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and its troops routinely carry out incursions into areas such as Jenin, which are nominally under the Palestinian Authority’s security control.

The West Bank has seen a recent surge in violence, particularly since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7.

More than 500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers across the West Bank since October 7, according to Palestinian officials, and at least 20 Israelis have been killed over the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The Gaza Strip has been at war since Hamas’s unprecedented attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people in Israel, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has killed at least 35,303 people, most of them civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.