Israelis kill Palestinian after alleged car ramming

JERICHO, Palestinian Territories — Israelis on Sunday shot dead a Palestinian who, according to the army and medics, had rammed his car into soldiers in the occupied West Bank.

The incident near the city of Jericho comes amid mounting violence across Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

“An assailant accelerated his vehicle toward IDF [Israeli army] soldiers who were at a bus station adjacent to the Nabi Musa Junction,” the army said, before he continued and drove at other soldiers nearby.

“A police officer and a civilian who were at the scene responded with live fire toward the assailant and neutralised him,” and Israeli forces had also fired at the driver, an army statement said.

An army spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that the driver was killed.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw soldiers surrounding a damaged white car beside a bus stop, which was cornered off with red tape.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency response service said its medics treated five people who were moderately or lightly wounded.

Tourists frequently pass by the area en route to the ancient city of Jericho or the Dead Sea.

The attack comes a day after a Palestinian assailant killed an Israeli in the flashpoint city of Hebron, in the southern West Bank, before being shot dead.

Sunday’s incident brings to 29 the number of Palestinians killed across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank this month. Three Israelis have been shot dead over the same period.

Much of the violence has been centred around the northern occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have launched near daily raids.