JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian man on Wednesday after a suspected car-ramming attack at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank that left a soldier severely injured, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.
The Israeli military said troops opened fire after the man approached the checkpoint between Jerusalem and the central city of Mod’in and attempted to run over an officer with his car before getting out and attacking the officer with an axe.
It did not confirm his death but Palestinian officials said they were informed by the Israeli liaison office that main, identified as 54-year-old Habbas Rayyan, had been killed.
Israeli emergency services said they were treating a 20-year-old male with limb injuries who was in severe condition.
The incident, a day after an election that saw former right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poised to return to power, follows months of tensions in the occupied West Bank with repeated clashes and raids by security forces.
In a previous incident on Sunday, a Palestinian was shot dead after he carried out a car-ramming attack against Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.
(Reporting by Emily Rose, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
