Elderly Palestinian woman tries to run over soldiers near Hebron

An elderly Palestinian woman attempted to run over IDF soldiers near Hebron on Friday and was shot by troops at the scene, the IDF said.

The driver was seriously injured, according to initial reports, and was later confirmed by the IDF to have died of her wounds. She was named as Tharwat al-Sha’arawi, 72, a widow from Hebron whose husband was killed in the first intifada.

None of the soldiers was reported injured in the attack, which took place at Halhul Junction, site of a similar attack earlier this week.

The woman attempted to drive her car into IDF troops near Halhul Bridge outside of Hebron, an army spokeswoman said.

The forces on the scene saw the car approaching them and fired at the attacker, injuring her. The Palestinian woman received medical treatment on site and was taken to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead.

Palestinian medics said Sharawi was driving in pouring rain at the time and did not intend to attack the soldiers.

Israeli security officials said a long knife was found in her car, and that she had spoken recently of her intention to attack Israeli soldiers, Israel’s Channel 2 news said.

On Wednesday, an Israeli Border Police officer suffered multiple injuries and is still in critical condition after being run over by a Palestinian man in a car-ramming attack north of Hebron.

Earlier on Friday morning, Palestinians threw Molotov cocktails at Israeli cars near Hebron. No injuries were reported, but minor damage was caused to vehicles. Israel Defense Forces soldiers who searched the area found a stash of fire bombs and rocks.