Two soldiers lightly injured in car-ramming near Hebron
IDF troops open fire on driver, killing him, in attack at checkpoint on Route 60 north of West Bank city
Two IDF soldiers were lightly injured Tuesday in a car-ramming attack north of Hebron in the West Bank.
Soldiers opened fire at the driver and the Palestinian attacker was “neutralized,” the army said. The attack happened on Route 60 at the entrance to Beit Anun, north of Hebron.
The soldiers were lightly wounded and taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, the Magen David Adom rescue service said.
The ramming came amid heightened tensions after two policemen were killed in a shooting attack at the Temple Mount compound in the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday.
In November 2015 three border policemen were injured in a suspected car-ramming attack at Beit Anun junction. The Palestinian driver turned himself in hours later to police and claimed the incident was a hit and run accident.
The past two years have seen an ongoing wave of violence in the West Bank and Israel, though it has waned in recent months.
Since September 2015, mainly Palestinian assailants have killed 43 Israelis, two visiting Americans, a Palestinian man and a British student, mainly in stabbing, shooting and vehicular attacks. In that time, some 280 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, a majority of them attackers, according to authorities.
The Israeli government blames the terrorism and violence on incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders compounded on social media sites that glorify violence and encourage attacks.
