Car rams into police vehicle in suspected West Bank attack; no casualties

A Palestinian driver swerved into a parked armored police vehicle at high speed on Saturday in a suspected car-ramming attack in the West Bank, police said.

The driver was killed in the incident, and no police officers were wounded.

Security camera footage showed the car speed toward an armored vehicle and a police patrol car, as a number of officers stood around. Right before the car rammed into the police vehicle, a seemingly unaware officer stepped out of the way of the vehicle, narrowly missing being hit.

The incident occurred on Route 60 near the Ofra settlement in the West Bank.

Police said that “during an operational activity by the police of Judea and Samaria District on Route 60 near the settlement of Ofra, a Palestinian vehicle collided with a police car, for a reason that has not yet been clarified at this stage. There were no casualties in the incident, police forces are on the scene.”

Police later stated that the attacker was a 27-year-old Palestinian from the Nablus area, and was alone in the car. They clarified that he was killed as a result of the collision.

Police said that a bomb squad was dispatched to the scene to inspect the vehicle, and that the incident was being investigated as a terror attack.

The Israeli army added that “IDF and security forces are continuing their operational activity in the area.”

The incident comes with Israeli forces on high alert amid fears that the Hamas terror group will try and carry out terror attacks to avenge their slain leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 massacre, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza this week.

Since October 7, troops have arrested some 5,250 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,050 affiliated with Hamas.

According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 716 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.

During the same period, 41 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.

Since October 7, the IDF has carried out more than 70 airstrikes in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.