Deadly Israeli Drone Attack Escalates Tensions in Occupied West Bank

A deadly Israeli drone attack struck a vehicle in the northern West Bank on Wednesday, killing three people in a major escalation of tensions in the occupied Palestinian territory. The air raid occurred in the Jenin refugee camp and set the car on fire, according to video circulated on social media. It was reported from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank that the drone attack was the culmination of a joint military-intelligence operation. In a statement, Israel’s military said it “identified a terrorist cell inside a suspicious vehicle after the cell carried out a shooting adjacent to the town of Jalamah”. It claimed the targets had been responsible for a number of shooting attacks on Jewish settlements.

The identities of the occupants in the car were not immediately known, but a statement from the Jenin Brigades, which includes fighters from different Palestinian factions, said two of the men killed belonged to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group and one was from Fatah. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said what he called the “assassination crime” would not go unpunished, calling it a “grave escalation” in Israel’s campaign against Palestinians in the area. Islamic Jihad said Israel must now await “punishment” after its “foolish act to target three of our fighters by drones and detaining their bodies”.

Israel has said most of the Palestinians killed were fighters, but stone-throwing youths protesting army incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also routinely been killed. The drone strike comes as tensions have been escalating in the region over the past year and a half with a long string of violent incidents. Just one day prior to the attack, hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed into a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to dozens of cars and homes to avenge the deaths of four Israelis killed by Palestinian attackers. Palestinians said one man was killed in the violence. Israel captured the West Bank, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Middle East war.The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state. The latest attack has been described by many as a major escalation in the ongoing conflict, with neither side backing down.

The International community continues to push for de escalation as incidents of deaths and violence continues to rise to unprecedented levels especially since Netanyahu took office again as Prime Minister last year promising the most "Rightist" Government in Israel's political history.