IDF: ‘Most wanted West Bank terror operative’ who was planning imminent attacks killed in Nablus op

A senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative who Israeli authorities say was planning imminent terror attacks was killed by troops earlier today in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Members of the police’s elite Yamam unit, Shin Bet agents, and IDF troops had encircled a home in Nablus where Nour Bitawi was holed up, killing him along with another terror operative, the military says.

Bitawi had “advanced significant terror activity, and was involved in guiding, financing and carrying out terror attacks against Israeli citizens and security forces,” the IDF, Shin Bet, and police say in a joint statement, adding that he also was in contact with Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip and abroad.

عاجل | استشهاد القائد في كتيبة جنين "نور عبد الكريم البيطاوي" بعد خوضه اشتباكاً مسلحاً مع قوات الاحتلال بمنطقة عين كاكوب قرب حي المساكن شرق مدينة نابلس. pic.twitter.com/rbacAuN3pn

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“Bitawi was responsible for the flow of terror funds to Jenin and the other villages in the area, and in this framework, worked to recruit and arm terrorists to carry out attacks against IDF troops. At the same time, he worked to build explosive devices and plant them in the Jenin area,” the statement says.

The IDF says Bitawi had been wanted for many months and was identified fleeing the Jenin area to Nablus, where he was ultimately located and killed.

The Yamam officers carried out a tactic known as “pressure cooker,” which involves escalating the volume of fire against a building to flush suspects out. The officers used an explosive-laden drone to eliminate him inside the building, alongside another operative, according to officials.

A military official describes Bitawi as “the number one most wanted” terror operative in the West Bank .