Palestinian killed by Israeli forces in alleged car attack in West Bank

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - A Palestinian was shot dead in an alleged car-ramming attack in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, the army said.

A military statement said a Palestinian driver attempted to ram his vehicle into a group of Israeli soldiers near the town of Hizma north of East Jerusalem.

The army said the driver was killed after he exited the vehicle and allegedly pulled out a knife to stab soldiers.

No injuries were reported among Israeli soldiers.

Tension has been running high across the West Bank due to Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 43,000 people, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack last year.

At least 762 Palestinians have since been killed and around 6,300 injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The current escalation follows a July opinion by the International Court of Justice, which declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories “illegal” and called for the evacuation of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara