3 Palestinians killed in Israeli drone strike at occupied West Bank

Three Palestinians were killed Friday in an Israeli drone strike in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, with Israeli forces detaining their bodies, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The ministry said the Public Authority for Civil Affairs, which serves as the official Palestinian liaison with Israel, informed it that three Palestinians were killed after being targeted by a drone in Jenin and that Israeli forces had taken custody of their bodies.

The victims were identified as Qais Bitawi, 22; Basel Turkman, 26; and Moamen Jaradat, 22, it said.

Earlier, an Israeli drone struck a partially built home in western Jenin, the first aerial strike on the city in nearly 10 months.

The strike targeted the half-built home in the Harsh al-Saada, as was initially reported by Israeli media.

Sources said several Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances converged on the scene as Israeli military vehicles deployed to the area.

“The Israeli army is holding our ambulance crew after it arrived at the targeted house,” the Red Crescent said in a statement.

The organization later said Israel released its members and asked them to leave the area without allowing them to transport the dead or wounded.

In a statement released earlier Friday, the Israeli army said warplanes “precisely struck” several people in the city. However, they provided no details on the outcome of the attack.

A subsequent statement said the army “eliminated” three people, including Bitawi, claiming he was a Hamas member. The army did not name the other victims.

The last Israeli airstrike in Jenin province was reported on October 28, 2025, when a helicopter targeted a cave and a vehicle near Kafr Qud in the western part of the province, killing three Palestinians, as per the Palestinian Health Ministry.