JENIN, Palestinian Territories: An Israeli strike on Wednesday killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, said the Palestinian health ministry.
The Israel army said it had eliminated senior Islamic Jihad operative, Ahmed Barakat, whom it accused of a May 2023 attack that killed an Israeli settler. According to a military statement, three others were also struck in the attack.
The Palestinian ministry said the strike killed three people including Barakat and injured one.
Islamic Jihad in a statement confirmed that Barakat, who used to lead its military operations in Jenin, had been killed.
Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp are a stronghold of armed Palestinian groups operating against Israeli occupation of the West Bank since 1967. Israeli troops regularly conduct incursions into Palestinian areas.
Violence in the area has intensified since the war started between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza on October 7.
According to the Ramallah-based health ministry, Israeli troops and settlers have so far killed 435 Palestinians in the West Bank since October.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, Israeli bombardment has killed at least 31,923 people, most of them women and children in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
