Israel considered mounting aerial attacks this week to target suspected terrorists in the heart of the West Bank and back up its troops on the ground raiding their strongholds.

It was the second time such an option was weighed during a raid of the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin in recent weeks. This time, too, a colonel commanding the battalion operating on the ground discarded the idea after deciding the risk of deploying armed aircraft outweighed the benefits for the troops fighting in one of the most densely populated and hostile Palestinian bastions of the West Bank.

But could operational considerations or a situation of last resort tilt the scale at some point and restore the so-called targeted killing aerial operations that Israel last used in this area some 20 years ago?

The Sept. 28 military operation in Jenin was launched at 8 a.m. and developed into violent clashes of unusual proportions. The decision to deploy troops in broad daylight against this hostile and heavily armed enemy, rather than under cover of darkness, was prompted by real-time intelligence information regarding the whereabouts of two Palestinians wanted for recent shooting attacks against Israeli targets. One of the men — Rahman Hazam — is said to be the brother of Raad Khazem from Jenin, who killed three Israelis in a shocking April 7 shooting spree in the heart of Tel Aviv.