(JTA) — A Palestinian rammed a truck into a group of soldiers in Israel, killing one and wounding five before being shot dead, in the latest incident amid an escalation of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
In the terror attack on Thursday, the driver, a 41-year old West Bank Palestinian man with a permit to work in Israel, swerved and hit the soldiers on the Israeli side of a checkpoint on the border of the West Bank leading into central Israel, near the Israeli town of Maccabim. The driver fled and was shot dead at another checkpoint, the army said.
One of the soldiers was in critical condition and the others were lightly wounded, local media said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would convene a security review at the defense ministry on Thursday evening, Israel’s public broadcaster reported.
Israeli-Palestinian violence has been intensifying for over a year, since a series of Palestinian stabbing attacks on Israelis in the spring of 2022, followed by retaliatory raids. Since the beginning of this year, more than two dozen Israelis and more than 150 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in violence which has included shooting attacks on Israelis in the West Bank, attacks by Palestinians within Israel and frequent Israeli military raids on Palestinian cities. This year has also seen several riots by Israeli West Bank settlers in Palestinian villages.
On Wednesday, a Palestinian stabbed and wounded an Israeli near Jerusalem’s Old City, and a policeman shot and killed the assailant. The same day, a car rammed a group of soldiers near the West Bank city of Hebron, lightly injuring a soldier. Soldiers fired on the car, killing the driver. In Nablus in the northern West Bank, an explosive device detonated next to soldiers securing access to Joseph’s Tomb, a holy site. Four soldiers were wounded.
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