Israeli army says soldier killed in West Bank car-ramming attack

​​​​​​​By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - An Israeli soldier was killed Wednesday in a car-ramming attack in the occupied central West Bank, according to the Israeli army.

The military identified the soldier as “Geri Gideon Hanghal, 24, of the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, from Nof Hagalil.”

Earlier Wednesday, Israeli public broadcaster, KAN, reported that an Israeli was critically injured in a ramming attack involving a gas tanker at the Giv'at Asaf junction near Ramallah.

The driver of the tanker was seriously wounded by army gunfire, it added.

Video from the scene showed the tanker crashing into a hillside near the road.

Another video depicts the truck veering off the road and hitting the hillside after ramming into a soldier at a watch post.

The army described it as a “terrorist attack.”

Israeli Channel 12 identified the driver as 58-year-old Hael Issa Abdul Jaber Deifallah, a resident of Rafat near Ramallah.

The death of the soldier brings the official toll of Israeli military casualties since the onslaught began on Oct. 7, 2023, to 709, including 342 killed since the Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip began Oct. 27.​​​​​​​

The number wounded stands at 4,440, with 2,280 injured since the start of ground operations, according to data on the army's website.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio