Palestinian killed by IDF troops in alleged attempted car-ramming in West Bank

Military says soldiers operating in village near Nablus opened fire at vehicle speeding toward them, killing 18-year-old driver and wounding and arresting passenger

By Emanuel Fabian 22 July 2023, 2:03 am 1 Edit

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent.

Bullet holes are seen on a Palestinian-owned car in the West Bank village of Sebastia, following an alleged attempted car-ramming attack, July 21, 2023. (Screenshot: Twitter)

A Palestinian man was killed by Israeli forces and another was arrested in an alleged attempted car-ramming attack in the West Bank late Friday night, Palestinian health officials and the Israeli military said.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, a Palestinian-owned vehicle accelerated toward troops who were carrying out “proactive activity” in the village of Sebastia, close to Nablus.

“The forces returned fire at the two suspects in the car,” the IDF said, calling the incident an attempted car-ramming attack.

The IDF said the driver was “neutralized” and the second Palestinian in the car was wounded and detained by the soldiers.

No troops were hurt in the incident.

The Palestinian Authority health ministry said the driver of the car, 18-year-old Fawzi Hani Mukhlafa, was brought to the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus where he was declared dead.

#صورة الشهيد فوزي هاني فوزي مخالفة (١٨ عامًا)، والذي استشهد بعد إطلاق النار عليه من قبل جيش الاحتلال داخل مركبة في سبسطية. pic.twitter.com/dG6lFFzxHN

— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) July 21, 2023

The official PA news agency Wafa named the wounded and detained Palestinian as Muhammad Omar Mukhaimer. His condition was not immediately known.

Footage circulating online showed dozens of bullet holes on the car the pair were in.

#شاهد المركبة التي استشهد بها شاب واعتقال أخر بعد إطلاق النار عليها من قبل جيش الاحتلال في منطقة سبسطية. pic.twitter.com/cRC67JljHO

— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) July 21, 2023

Earlier Friday, another Palestinian teenager was killed during clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank village of Umm Safa.

Three Israeli troops were also hurt in separate clashes in the southern West Bank town of Beit Ummar.

According to a tally by The Times of Israel, 155 West Bank Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year — most of them during clashes with security forces or while carrying out attacks, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under unclear circumstances.