Israeli air strike kills three Palestinians in West Bank

An Israeli strike on Wednesday killed three Palestinians in a car in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, with the army reporting an Islamic Jihad fighter was "eliminated".

AFP journalists saw a crowd gathered around the charred remains of a vehicle and blood on the pavement in the northern West Bank city of Jenin after the army said: "An aircraft struck two senior Islamic Jihad operatives."

The military said it had "eliminated" Ahmed Barakat, who it accused of a May 2023 attack that killed an Israeli settler.

Three other Palestinians were also "struck" in the attack, according to a military statement.

According to the Palestinian ministry, the strike killed three people including Barakat and wounded one.

Witness Amir al-Sabah, 30, said: "Suddenly there was an explosion near my car. Because of the force of the blast, my car caught fire, so I had to get out."

Emergency workers sprayed blood off the street with a hose after the strike, while a drone could be heard buzzing overhead.

Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp are a stronghold of Palestinian fighters opposing Israel's occupation of the West Bank, which has been ongoing since 1967.

According to the Ramallah-based health ministry, Israeli troops and settlers have killed at least 435 Palestinians - including children - in the West Bank since the Gaza war began.

Israel's military has waged a relentless offensive on Gaza, where it has killed at least 31,923 people, most of them women and children.