Jerusalem: The Israeli Army said that soldiers shot and killed a knife-wielding Palestinian who attempted to ram people at a junction near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
Surveillance camera footage circulated on social media showed the suspect arriving in his car at the Gitai Avisar Junction on Thursday outside the Jewish settlement of Ariel, reports Xinhua news agency.
He was then seen stepping out of the car and approaching a policeman before soldiers shot him dead.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the suspect “first deviated to the opposite lane of the road and attempted to ram civilians and security personnel who were at the junction”.
“Afterward, he exited his vehicle while carrying a knife and attempted to stab a police officer.”
Soldiers who were in the area opened fire toward him, the army confirmed.
No injuries were reported among the Israelis.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the victim as 39-year-old Ahmad Taha but did not provide any additional details on the incident.
Also on Thursday, dozens of Palestinians gathered in the West Bank village of Ain al-Bayda to protest against the Israeli settlers’ assaults on their properties, Palestinian sources said.
Local Palestinian sources said that the demonstrators chanted slogans against settlers, and Israeli soldiers fired teargas to disperse them.
The latest incidents come amid a surge in Israeli-Palestinian violence this year.
Since the start of this year, more than 90 Palestinians — militants and civilians — have been killed by Israeli forces.
Eighteen Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian — all civilians, except for an Israeli paramilitary police officer — have been also killed in attacks by (or suspected to have been carried out by) Palestinians and, in one case, an Israeli Arab.
–IANS
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