IDF raids home of West Bank car-rammer, seizes ‘inciting material’

IDF soldiers on Tuesday raided the West Bank hometown of a Palestinian man who the day before carried out a car-ramming attack in which a soldier was wounded, the army said.

On Monday afternoon, a resident of the Palestinian village of Teqoa outside Bethlehem attempted to drive his car into a group of soldiers, lightly injuring one of them, as they manned a roadblock in the area.

After crashing his car into the guard rail, the assailant then tried to stab the soldiers before he was shot dead by the troops, according to the IDF.

The assailant was named in Palestinian media as Muhammad Ibrahim Jibril, 24. According to the Palestinian Ma’an news site, Israeli officials agreed to turn over the body for burial Tuesday in exchange for “quiet” in the town.

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During the attack, the soldier sustained wounds to his arms and legs. It was not immediately clear if the soldier was hit by the vehicle or by a streetlight that fell after it was hit by the Palestinian’s car.

According to an eyewitness, soldiers on the scene had earlier been checking passing Palestinian vehicles “without a barrier or protection.”

Early Tuesday morning, IDF troops, as well as Border Police officers and members of the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration, entered the village of Teqoa.

“The troops carried out searches in the home of the terrorist and in the homes of his family, and seized inciting material,” the army said in a statement.

The military did not elaborate on the type of materials found, but a picture on Facebook posted by the village’s official page showed a poster ripped off a wall.

Between Monday night and Tuesday, the IDF arrested 15 Palestinians in cities and towns across the West Bank who were suspected of rock throwing, taking part in riots and other forms of so-called “popular terrorism,” the military said.

The army also escorted approximately 1,000 worshipers to the Joshua’s Tomb holy site in the northern West Bank village of Kifl Hares.

Palestinian residents threw large stones at the escorting Israeli soldiers, before the troops drove them back with stun grenades, the army said.

There were no reports of injuries.