Qutaiba Shalabi and Mohammed Nazzal were killed after a fierce gun battle with Israeli forces on Wednesday night in Burqin, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. The Palestinian health ministry says their bodies were taken by Israeli forces and the house they were in demolished.

The men were affiliated with a militant group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, that carried out an attack earlier this month, the military said.

Nearly 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed and more than 110,700 injured in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to local health authorities.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the assault on Jenin would be “extensive and significant,” as the military erected new checkpoints across the West Bank.

The Israeli military said on Thursday that its forces killed two armed Palestinians in Jenin during the night, as its major campaign in the northern West Bank city enters its third day. It said the men were confronted near Jenin,