RAMALLAH: The Israeli military said on Tuesday it killed three Palestinians as it expanded its offensive in the occupied West Bank, currently in its 43rd day, to new parts of the northern city of Jenin.

Israeli forces “expanded the counterterrorism operation in northern Samaria to additional areas in Jenin,” the military said, using the Biblical name for that part of the West Bank, adding a local Hamas leader was among those it killed in the overnight raid.

The military said that in an exchange of fire, troops killed “the leader of the Hamas terrorist network in the area” along with another Palestinian militant, and arrested three more.

It said during a further inspection of the premises where the militants were, troops killed a third armed militant “who posed an immediate threat.”

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the alleged Hamas leader as Aser Saadiya, adding that his body was taken away by Israeli troops after he was shot dead in an eastern neighborhood of Jenin.

In the early hours of Tuesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces had handed over the body of another man in his 20s killed in east Jenin.

The head of Jenin’s government hospital, Wisam Baker, said that a third man he identified as Jihad Alawneh was declared dead on arrival at the hospital early on Tuesday.

He said the 25-year-old had bled out after being shot in the thigh by Israeli troops.

The Israeli military launched a major offensive in the northern West Bank on Jan. 21, deploying tanks in the territory for the first time in 20 years.

Dubbed “Iron Wall” by the Israeli military, the operation came days after a ceasefire took effect in Gaza.

It has involved raids in multiple refugee camps near the cities of Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas, regarded as bastions of Palestinian militancy.