An Israeli drone killed three armed Palestinians in the West Bank on Wednesday, in a rare strike that came hours after settlers attacked Palestinian towns, torching cars and buildings in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen a day earlier.
The strike near the flashpoint city of Jenin came amid a surge in violence over recent days in the occupied West Bank, where for over a year the military has been conducting regular sweeps leading to repeated clashes with Palestinian fighters.
The Israeli army said a squad of armed men was identified in a vehicle after they carried out a shooting attack near the town of Jalamah.
Although surveillance drones are commonplace, the strike by an Elbit Hermes drone, which followed a rare use of helicopter gunships in the operation in Jenin, was the first by the Israeli military in the West Bank since 2006, the Israeli army said.
Hours earlier, Israeli settlers rampaged through Palestinian towns in the West Bank in retaliation for the killing of four Israelis by Hamas gunmen who opened fire on a roadside restaurant near the settlement of Eli.
"They tried to enter the courtyard, they set the cars on fire, they started shooting towards the house using live bullets and stones and they broke the balconies," said resident Noman Shalab, Reuters reported.
One Palestinian was shot dead during the attack while at least one other was critically injured, Palestinian health officials said.
Residents of a number of other Palestinian towns reported settler attacks after the killings and senior ministers in Netanyahu's government called for a full-scale military operation across the West Bank.
