An Israeli raid in the West Bank kills 3, including children

An Israeli drone strike killed three cousins, including two children, in the West Bank on Wednesday, according to Palestinian officials and a family member, as rising violence threatens to further destabilize the Israeli-occupied territories.

Ahmed Asaad, the Palestinian governor of the Tubas district, said that the attack hit the courtyard of the cousins’ house in the town of Tammoun. The dead were identified as two young children, Reda Bisharat and Hamza Bisharat. And the young man, Adham Bsharat.

Mr. Assad said that Israeli soldiers arrested the three shortly after the airstrike, making it unclear whether they were alive or dead. He added that Israeli officials later informed their Palestinian counterparts of the killing of the three.

The Civil Affairs Branch of the Palestinian Authority, which coordinates with Israel, announced on Wednesday evening that Israeli officials had handed over the bodies of their three cousins ​​to conduct funeral ceremonies.

The Israeli army said it launched a drone strike in Tammun against a “terrorist cell,” but did not immediately comment on the claim that two children were killed. It later issued a statement saying, “Due to various reports regarding the results of the strike, the incident is under review.”

The cousins’ families could not immediately be reached, but Maamoun Abu Mohsen, a member of their extended family, confirmed their deaths in a phone interview on Wednesday evening after he said Israeli forces had returned their bodies.

Violence has escalated in the West Bank over the past year and a half, as Israel has fought wars with armed groups such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israeli forces have stepped up raids on Palestinian cities in the West Bank — operations that can last for days at a time — bulldozing roads and engaging in firefights with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad activists.

Wednesday’s aerial bombardment followed a Palestinian shooting attack two days earlier that killed three Israelis, including two women in their 70s. Israeli officials quickly vowed to punish the deadly attack.

“We are witnessing accelerating attempts to strengthen Palestinian terrorism in Judea and Samaria,” Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said on Wednesday, using the biblical names for the West Bank. The Israeli government is considered disputedunoccupied territory. He said Israel would “respond accordingly” to protect its citizens, some 500,000 of whom live in West Bank settlements.

More than 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, following the Hamas-led offensive that led to the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry. It is unclear how many fighters there are, but the numbers include some civilians, including women and children, who were killed by Israeli security forces.

About 50 Israelis were killed by Palestinians in armed attacks in the West Bank during the same time, according to the United Nations. Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, said it thwarted more than a thousand attacks in 2024, including hundreds of shooting attacks.

The Palestinian Authority, which administers some parts of the territories under Israeli occupation, also launched its own operation against Palestinian militants in Jenin last December. A number of Palestinian officers were killed, in addition to some civilians, including a young woman and a teenage bystander.