3 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Drone Strike Amid Rising West Bank Violence

Three Palestinians were killed on Wednesday in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle near Jenin, a northern West Bank city, according to both Palestinian and Israeli reports.

Palestinian security sources and witnesses stated that an Israeli military drone struck at Al Jalama, a village north of Jenin, causing the death of all occupants in the vehicle.

The Palestinian Authority’s Civil Defense stated that its teams extinguished the blaze and discovered the bodies of the three young men. However, Israeli troops blocked the Civil Defense crew from retrieving the bodies, the statement added.

According to Palestinian sources, the Israeli military also prevented Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulances from collecting the bodies from the charred vehicle.

The Israel Defense Forces issued a statement claiming that it eliminated “a terror cell in the West Bank using a drone,” an uncommon tactic usually reserved for targeting significant terrorists or rocket-firing cells in Gaza. The IDF alleged that the targeted Palestinians were planning a shooting attack near Al Jalama, accusing the same cell of conducting recent shooting attacks.

This drone attack takes place amid escalating violence in the West Bank. On Monday, an Israeli army raid in Jenin resulted in six Palestinian deaths and at least 90 injuries. On Tuesday, two Palestinian gunmen, affiliated with Hamas, were killed after fatally shooting four Israelis and injuring four others outside the Israeli settlement of Eli, around 12 miles north of Ramallah.