Israel strikes West Bank for first time in nine months after Jenin raid
Shafaq News – West Bank
Three Palestinians were killed in the village of Kafr Qud near Jenin, the Israeli police announced on Tuesday, as Israel intensifies settlement construction across the occupied West Bank.
Police reported that the operation targeted individuals accused of planning an attack, noting that the Israeli forces engaged them as they emerged from a cave before an airstrike destroyed “terror infrastructure,” marking Israel’s first use of airpower in the West Bank in nine months.
قضت قوات #وحدة_اليمام الخاصة، الليلة، على #ثلاثة_مخربين في قرية #كفر_قود كانوا يخططون لتنفيذ #عملية_إرهابية قرب #جنين.وجرت العملية بتنسيق مع جهاز الشاباك وبدعم من #جيش_الدفاع، بعد أن رصد #قناصة_الوحدة #المخربين أثناء خروجهم من #مغارة، فأطلقوا نيرانًا دقيقة أدت إلى تحييدهم،…
— شرطة اسرائيل- israel police (@Israelpolice_Ar) October 28, 2025
Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that any attempt by armed groups to rebuild networks dismantled in northern Samaria would be met with “a heavy hand,” instructing the army to take “all necessary measures, from land and air,” to counter militant activity in the West Bank.
מברך את צה"ל, השב"כ והימ"מ על הפעולה המוצלחת שסיכלה איום פיגוע חמור.כל ניסיון של ארגוני הטרור לשקם את תשתיות הטרור ביו"ש שסיכלנו והרסנו במחנות הטרור בצפון השומרון ייענה ביד קשה. התקיפה מן האוויר באה לסכל מערה שנחשפה וכהשלמה לפעולה הקרקעית.הנחיתי את צה"ל לנקוט בכל האמצעים…
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) October 28, 2025
Hamas condemned the killings as “a new war crime” and part of a “systematic policy of field executions” against Palestinians.
Palestinian media reported further Israeli raids in Jenin, Turmus Ayya north of Ramallah, and Kafr Qaddum east of Qalqilya, where two Palestinians were injured during clashes with settlers. In Turmus Ayya, settlers reportedly blocked farmers from reaching their olive groves amid the harvest season.
Meanwhile, Israel’s settlement expansion is advancing. The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that the government plans to approve about 2,000 new housing units in the West Bank before the end of the year, adding that more than 48,000 units have been authorized since early 2023.
The Israeli Finance Ministry has also approved the confiscation of roughly 26,000 dunams of West Bank land, declaring them “state” property. Palestinian factions denounced the move as “a declaration of war on Palestinian existence,” urging mobilization against what they described as “expansionist policies.”
According to the official Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Israel has carried out 1,014 demolitions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023, affecting 3,679 structures — among them 1,288 inhabited homes, 244 uninhabited houses, and 962 agricultural facilities.
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reports that, alongside the Gaza war — which has killed 68,527 Palestinians, most of them women and children — Israeli raids and settler violence in the West Bank have left 1,058 Palestinians dead, including 210 children, and thousands detained.
