Two IDF soldiers hurt in West Bank ramming attack; assailant killed

Two Israelis in their 20s evacuated in light condition to a nearby hospital; two other pedestrians reportedly wounded.

By ANNA AHRONHEIM, JPOST.COM STAFF
Updated: JULY 19, 2017 02:36
A Magen David Adom ambulance [File] (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
A Magen David Adom ambulance [File]
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Two soldiers were lightly wounded in a suspected car-ramming attack near the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba on Tuesday.
A Palestinian arrived driving a car at the entrance to the village of Beit Anun and accelerated into the troops, the army said. Forces responded by firing their weapons at the man, killing him.
Magen David Adom reported that it had evacuated the two Israelis in their 20s in light condition and fully conscious to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek hospital.
“When we arrived on the scene, we identified two youngsters in their twenties fully conscious and able to walk. They suffered from wounds to their limbs and faces after being hit by a vehicle,” MDA paramedic Zaki Yahav said.
According to initial reports, two pedestrians in their 60s were also wounded in the apparent attack.
Since October 2015 Palestinians have stabbed, run over and shot Israeli soldiers and civilians, – including tourists – in a wave of violence in the West Bank and Green Line Israel.
While the violence has decreased from its 2016 winter peak, when there were near-daily attacks, there have been several deadly attacks in recent months.
On Friday, two Border Police officers were shot to death outside the Temple Mount complex by three Israeli Arabs from the city of Umm el-Fahm.
Following the attack, Israel barred access to the contested site for two days. On Sunday the compound was reopened under enhanced security measures, including the installation of metal detectors at its entrances, drawing protests from Muslim religious authorities.
Last week, another soldier was wounded in a car-ramming attack, after a Palestinian drove into a group of soldiers at a junction near Tekoa, northeast of Hebron. The assailant was shot dead by security forces after he exited his vehicle exited the vehicle armed with a knife and attempted to stab soldiers standing nearby.
In April Sgt. Elchai Taharlev was killed when he was struck by a Palestinian driver at the Ofra junction on Route 60, northeast of Ramallah. The driver, Malek Ahmad Mousa, 21, from the nearby town of Silwad, served four months in jail for attempting an attack at the settlement of Adam last year, military officials said. It was the ninth attack in the previous two years to be carried out by residents of Silwad.