The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) jointly announced that they had neutralized two top Hamas operatives in Jenin, located in the West Bank.
This operation followed reports from the Palestinian Health Ministry about the deaths of two individuals due to an Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle in Jenin.
The IDF and ISA stated on Telegram that the operation in Jenin was to target two high-ranking Hamas members linked to the orchestration of a fatal shooting in the Jordan Valley, which resulted in the death of Yonatan Deutsch.
Details provided by the Israeli army indicate that one of the deceased was involved in planning additional terrorist activities and the creation of explosive devices intended for attacks.
The other was in charge of overseeing Hamas‘s military operations in the Jenin region.
Hamas acknowledged the deaths of these leaders in a Telegram statement, describing them as “noble knights” of the Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.
The statement named the individuals as Rafaat Mahmoud Dawasi, identified as the leader of Al-Qassam in Jenin, and Ahmed Walid Abu Ora, a Qassam leader from the village of Aqaba.
The statement from Hamas vowed that the death of these commanders would inspire further significant actions against the occupier, promising a surge of operations across the occupied West Bank, as decreed by their faith.