Army thwarts attempted tractor ramming attack in Hebron, assailant killed

Israeli troops thwarted an attempted car-ramming attack Saturday in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, the army said.

The driver of the vehicle tried to run over soldiers stationed on a road leading to the Tomb of the Patriarchs but was shot dead by troops, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The army said the Palestinian assailant first attempted to run over an officer and another soldier with a small tractor.

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“The force performed the protocols for stopping a suspicious person, during which the terrorist turned around and continued to drive in order to run over civilians passing by,” the IDF said.

“Another soldier standing on the roof of a nearby building identified the threat toward the civilians on the road and opened fire at the terrorist, from which he was killed,” it added.

Israeli soldiers at the scene of an attempted ramming attack in the West Bank city of Hebron on June 2, 2018. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

The army said the attacker was a 35-year-old from the nearby village of Beit Ummar. Palestinian media named him as Rami Sabarnah.

No soldiers were injured during the incident, the IDF said.