ANKARA

Three Palestinians were killed on Wednesday in the northern occupied West Bank after an Israeli drone hit their vehicle, causing a fire.

The incident occurred near al-Jalama, a town north of Jenin city, according to the Palestinian official Wafa news agency.

The Palestinian Civil Defense Service said its firefighter teams extinguished the blaze and found three charred bodies. Authorities are still trying to identify the names of the deceased.

Israeli media, including the Times of Israel news website, reported that Israeli forces had seized the bodies.

This marks the first time Israel has used drones against Palestinian activists since 2005.​​​​​​​

Israeli forces have killed nearly 180 Palestinians since the start of the year.

The Islamic Jihad group mourned the three Palestinians as "resistance fighters" who were killed in a "cowardly assassination," vowing to continue the fight against the Israeli occupation.