In a statement, police said that Yamam forces “targeted a terrorist cell in the Menashe sector’s Kafr Qud area” that was allegedly preparing a planned attack and was affiliated with an organization active in the Jenin refugee camp. The police further stated that the operatives were seen emerging from a cave, at which point Israeli snipers opened fire, killing all three. Shortly afterward, the Israeli military carried out an airstrike on the cave to destroy what it called the militants’ hideout.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant praised the operation, warning that any attempt to rebuild the infrastructure of terrorist groups in Judea and Samaria—the biblical terms Israel uses for the occupied West Bank—“will be crushed with an iron fist.” He added, “I have instructed the army to take every necessary action, both on the ground and from the air, to eliminate terrorist threats and their operatives.”
Following a brief ceasefire in Gaza last winter, Israel launched large-scale operations across the northern refugee camps of the West Bank, displacing thousands of Palestinians and demolishing dozens of homes.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, since October 2023, at least 988 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers. In the same period, 43 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in attacks carried out by Palestinians.
The West Bank—under Israeli occupation since 1967—is now home to more than half a million Israeli settlers, a presence widely viewed by the international community as a violation of international law.
