Palestinian vehicle runs over 2 soldiers in West Bank

Driver speeds toward checkpoint, strikes soldiers in apparent hit-and-run; soldiers lightly injured; nationalist attack not suspected.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Soldiers at Itamar settlement 311 (photo credit: REUTERS/Nir Elias)
Soldiers at Itamar settlement 311
(photo credit: REUTERS/Nir Elias)
Two Israeli soldiers on Thursday were struck by a Palestinian vehicle at a checkpoint near Beit Ur al-Fauqa south of Ramallah in the West Bank.
The soldiers were lightly injured and evacuated to a hospital in Jerusalem after a Palestinian driver reportedly sped past other cars waiting in line at the checkpoint, ramming the soldiers, and then speeding away.
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The event was currently being treated as a hit-and-run incident and not as a terrorist attack with nationalistic motives.
On Wednesday, an IDF force from the Kfir Brigade prevented a stabbing attack in the Etzion bloc of West Bank settlements by a Palestinian woman in her twenties Wednesday.
The Palestinian woman arrived at the the Gush Etzion Junction Wednesday afternoon and crossed the road, approaching soldiers and Israeli civilians standing at a bus stop. She then brandished a knife and ran towards the soldiers and civilians, screaming "Allahu Akhbar" and "Death to Jews," Channel 10 reported.
Soldiers detained the woman and she was subsequently arrested. No injuries were reported in the incident.
According to the report, the woman told security forces who arrived on the scene that she had come to the junction with the intention of stabbing soldiers. She had waited until the release of Palestinian prisoners in the Gilad Schalit deal before attempting to carry out the attack.
The IDF said that it is continuing to operate under an increased alert level in the area, praising the soldiers at the junction who identified the attacker and said that because of their alertness, prevented an attack.