Israeli drone attack kills Palestinian militants in West Bank
The Israeli military said it targeted "a terrorist cell inside a suspicious vehicle" that carried out a shooting attack near Jalama on Wednesday night.
It was the first such strike in the West Bank since 2006, it added.
Palestinian first responders said they found three bodies in a burned-out car, but soldiers prevented their removal.
Palestinian news agency Wafa identified them as Mohammed Bashar Uweis, 28, Suhayb Adnan al-Ghoul, 27, and Ashraf Murad Saadi, 17, and said they were all from the city of Jenin.
The militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said Ghoul and Saadi were its fighters, while Uweis was from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, the armed wing of the Fatah movement.
PIJ warned Israel's leaders that they would "bear responsibility for their stupid decision to strike these operatives with drones and... keep their bodies".
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant tweeted: "We'll take an attacking and proactive approach against terror, we'll use all means at our disposal and exact the heaviest price from every terrorist."
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its soldiers identified a vehicle carrying gunmen who had carried out a shooting at a checkpoint near Jalama, a town about 3.5km (2 miles) north of Jenin.
"The terrorist cell [had] carried out a number of shooting attacks toward communities in Judea and Samaria lately," it added, using the biblical term that Israel uses to refer to the West Bank.
"Following the identification of the terrorist cell, an IDF UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] fired toward the cell and thwarted them."
Witnesses said they heard gunfire shortly before the strike.
"After the sound of the bullets, I was sitting with my children and we decided to go inside because we thought there were clashes or something like that," resident Nasser Torokman told Reuters news agency.
"Later on, we heard a sound of a strong explosion. The first rocket fell and I saw that there was fire in the area and a burning car."
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