Police identify suspect in Kochav Yair ramming attack as 26-year-old from nearby Arab town

Police identify the suspect in the overnight ramming attack targeting police officers at a checkpoint near Kochav Ya’ir as a 26-year-old resident of the neighboring Arab Israeli town of Tira. He was not immediately named.

He first struck four officers at a checkpoint near the Kochav Yair Junction, which is near the Green Line before proceeding to the nearby Eliyahu Crossing that divides between Israel and the West Bank. There he attempted to stab security guards operating the checkpoint who managed to shoot him. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said, adding that they have already determined that the attacker had acted alone.

The officers hit by the suspect near Kochav Yair had been operating a flying checkpoint aimed at preventing car theft, police added, clarifying that the incident was still being probed as a terror attack and not a criminal case.