Israel’s military pressed ahead with its offensive in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Thursday and said it had killed two men in a siege who had been wanted for the murder of three Israelis earlier this month.
The men, identified on Thursday by the Israeli military as Mohamad Nazzal and Katiba Shalabi, were affiliated with a militant group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and had carried out the shooting in the village of Al-Funduq on Jan. 6, it said.
“The terrorists were wanted for the murder of three Israelis,” the military said in a statement, adding that an Israeli soldier had been moderately injured in the operation on Wednesday, which took place in the village of Burqin, just west of Jenin. “After an exchange of fire, they were eliminated by the forces,” it said.
It was not possible to confirm independently that the men had been responsible for the attack in Al-Funduq, in which Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a civilian bus and cars. Israeli settlers attacked the village this week along with other towns in the West Bank.
At least 10 people have been killed in the raids this week, and more than 40 others have been wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Wednesday. Officials have also told the Palestinian news agency Wafa that dozens of people have been arrested.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said this week that the raids were aimed at “eradicating terrorism” and would be “extensive and significant.” They are the latest in a series in recent months.
Last month, Palestinian security forces carried out an assault of their own in Jenin against Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, the militant group that attacked Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the war in Gaza.
During a 10-day raid into the West Bank in August and September, Israeli forces killed 39 people, most of whom died in Jenin, according to Palestinian officials. They also demolished homes, shops and roads.
Palestinian officials say that Israeli security forces and settlers have killed more than 800 Palestinians in the West Bank in the 15 months since the war in Gaza began.
The United Nations has condemned the violence, and the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, issued an advisory opinion in August saying that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and its settlements there, violated international law. Mr. Netanyahu criticized the opinion and said the settlements were legal.
Jenin is a center for Palestinian resistance in the West Bank — to both Israel’s occupation and the Palestinian Authority — and many young men there have joined Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other armed groups.
The level of conflict in the West Bank has risen since the start of the war in Gaza. The Israeli operation has coincided with a cease-fire in Gaza, which came into effect on Sunday.