Three people, including a child, were killed in the Israeli attack on the West Bank, the official said

Three cousins, including two children, were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the West Bank on Wednesday, a local Palestinian governor and a relative said, as escalating violence threatens to further destabilize the Israeli-occupied territories.

The Palestinian governor of Tubas region, Ahmed Asad, said that the attack took place in the courtyard of the cousins’ house in Tamoun city. He identified the dead as Rida Basharat and Hamza Basharat, two young children, and Adham Basharat, a young adult.

Israeli officials later informed their Palestinian counterparts that all three were dead, Mr. Assad said.

The Israeli military struck a “terrorist cell” in Tamoun with a drone, but did not immediately comment on Palestinian media reports that two children had been killed. It later issued a statement saying, “The incident is being reviewed based on various reports regarding the consequences of the strike.”

Their immediate families could not be immediately reached, but a member of their extended family, Mamun Abu Muhsin, confirmed their deaths in a phone interview Wednesday night after saying their bodies had been returned by Israeli forces.

Violence has increased in the West Bank over the past year and a half as Israel has waged war with militant groups such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israeli forces have stepped up raids on Palestinian towns in the West Bank — operations that can last for days — bulldozing roads and engaging in firefights with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants.

Wednesday’s airstrikes followed a Palestinian shooting attack two days earlier that killed three Israelis, including two women in their 70s. Israeli officials vowed swift retaliation for the deadly attack.

“We are witnessing attempts to accelerate Palestinian terrorism in Judea and Samaria,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday, using the biblical names of the West Bank. The Israeli government considers it controversialunoccupied territory. He said Israel would “respond appropriately” to protect its citizens, some 500,000 of whom live in West Bank settlements.

According to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health, more than 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, following a Hamas-led offensive that sparked the war in Gaza. It is unclear how many fighters there are, but the number includes some civilians, including women and children killed by Israeli security forces.

According to the UN, at the same time, about 50 Israelis were killed by Palestinians as a result of armed attacks in the West Bank. The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, said it prevented more than 1,000 attacks in 2024, including hundreds of shootings.

The Palestinian Authority, which controls some parts of the territories under Israeli occupation, also launched its operation against Palestinian militants in Jenin in December. Several Palestinian officers were killed, as well as some civilians, including a young woman and a bystander teenager.