An Israeli drone strike killed three armed militants travelling in a car close to the city of Jenin on Wednesday night, in a further escalation of violence in the West Bank.
The incident marks the first time Israel has carried out a targeted assassination of militants in the West Bank since 2006, at the end of the second Palestinian intifada uprising.
Two of the men were Islamic Jihad fighters while the third was a member of the Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Three bodies were found in the charred remains of the car and picked up by the Israeli army. The army said in a statement that they believed the cell was behind a number of recent shooting attacks.
Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant commended security forces for the attack. “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.”
Senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan said after the assassination: “The Israeli enemy is starting to use aircraft and this is a dangerous development. We call on the resistance in the West Bank to escalate the confrontation.”
Islamic Jihad also said that “Israel will bear responsibility for their stupid decision to strike these operatives with drones and keep their bodies.”
Following an increase in militant attacks, including the shooting of four settlers at a West Bank petrol station on Tuesday, pressure mounted from settlers and elements within prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition for a major ground incursion into the northern West Bank, focusing on the militant strongholds of Jenin and Nablus.
Mr Netanyahu stressed that “all options are open” but for now is resisting the calls for a ground offensive, preferring instead to allow new methods, such as drone strikes based on precise intelligence.
Meanwhile, Mr Netanyahu spoke out against the wave of attacks by angry settlers against innocent Palestinians at numerous West Bank locations following Tuesday’s attack.
Dozens of homes, cars and fields were torched and settlers also cut the electricity supply to the Nablus area village of Urif, the home of the two Palestinian assailants in Tuesday’s attack. Palestinian sources said one man was killed and another 12 were wounded during the attack by settlers and ensuing clashes with Israeli troops. At least four people were wounded by gunfire, including one listed in serious condition.
“There are days when the obvious must be stated: the state of Israel is a country of law,” Mr Netanyahu said. “We will not accept rioting.”
Rear admiral Daniel Hagari, the Israel Defence Forces spokesperson, admitted that soldiers had failed to prevent the settler rioting. “This is an incident that creates terror and escalation, and takes the population that isn’t involved in terror and pushes it there, while preventing the army from fighting terror,” he said.
The European Union issued a statement condemning the settler violence, stressing that Israel is obligated to protect Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories. There was also condemnation from the US and the UN.
