Police shoot one Palestinian, run over second in Ramallah clashes

Rioter shot by troops while throwing firebomb; second attacker hit by police jeep as he attempts to stab officer

By ToI Staff and Judah Ari Gross 30 October 2015, 4:36 pm

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Knife recovered at the scene of the stabbing attack in Jerusalem on Oct. 30, 2015. (Israel Police)
Paramedics arrive at the scene of a stabbing attack in the Ammunition Hill of Jerusalem on Oct. 30, 2015. (Magen David Adom)
Paramedics arrive at the scene of a stabbing attack in Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem on October 30, 2015. (Magen David Adom)
Screenshot from Channel 2 of the site of the stabbing attack in Jerusalem on October 30, 2015.

Two Palestinians were moderately wounded Friday afternoon during fierce clashes with Border Police in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

A police unit shot and wounded a Palestinian who was about to throw a Molotov cocktail. As medical officers dispensed first aid to the wounded Palestinian, a second Palestinian approached the first responders with a sharp object in his hand. Identifying a clear danger to the officers on the scene, the commander in a jeep ordered his driver to get closer in order to prevent a stabbing, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.

The driver struck the second Palestinian, wounding him (footage here). Both Palestinians were moderately hurt, and no Israeli forces incurred any injuries, the police said.

The incident came shortly after two people were injured in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem.

According to police, an Israeli man in his 20s sustained moderate injuries when he was stabbed near the Ammunition Hill light rail station by a 23-year-old resident of Kfar Akeb in East Jerusalem. A second man was injured by police gunfire when security forces tried to subdue the attacker, who was shot and critically wounded.

“From our initial investigation we believe that a terrorist armed with a knife arrived at the station and stabbed a civilian, injuring him. He then attempted to stab another civilian, but did not succeed,” Samri said.

“Light rail guards who were on the scene, other civilians and Border Police officers who were nearby subdued the terrorist. As a result of the gunfire, an additional civilian was injured, with a gunshot wound to the leg,” Samri said.

The victim with the stab wounds was treated on the scene by paramedics before being taken to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center. According to Magen David Adom, he was in stable condition. The second victim was lightly to moderately injured by the gunfire, MDA said.

The incident was the first in Jerusalem since October 17 when a Palestinian teenager tried to stab Border Police officers in Armon Hanatziv, and the second attack of the day Friday.

Earlier, two Palestinian men attempted to stab a group of Border Police officers at the Tapuah Junction in the West Bank and were shot by security forces. One died of his wounds and the other was in critical condition, according to police.

The Border Police troops were not hurt in the attempted attack.

The incidents were the latest in over 60 separate attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces over the past month. Ten Israelis have been killed and dozens wounded in a spate of terror attacks by mainly Palestinian assailants since October 1.