Israeli authorities identified a suspected Palestinian attacker as a man who broke into the car of an IDF soldier in an arson known as a “ramming” Wednesday evening, during a clash near the settlement of Beit Horon in the occupied West Bank that left him seriously injured, they said.
The attacker at West Bank drove toward the policewoman and a soldier who were engaging in vehicle checkpoints in a street in the vicinity of Beit Horon, west of Ramallah, Israeli police said. A soldier had been injured in the incident and had been rushed to medical treatment facilities. The attacker was then shot down by Israeli troops, police said.
Israeli rescue workers told the news agency the soldier had been airlifted to hospital in serious condition. Later, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, revealed that the injured soldier was his son, Neria Leiter. The soldier suffered complicated surgery and was in serious condition, Shaare Zedek Medical Center said.
Palestinian Health Ministry said the man suspected of attacking was Mahmoud Mohammad Mahmoud Suleiman, 29. The body could not be found because Israeli authorities withheld it, it said. Palestinian authorities also said Israeli troops raided the home of his family, and closed down near-by areas after the incident.
The latest occurred as violence in the occupied West Bank persists and has escalated since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and launched the Gaza war. Shootings, alleged “car-ramming” and Israeli military raids, amongst other acts of violence, have been some of the more recent incidents. A suspected Palestinian gunman was also arrested earlier this week after an Israeli man was killed near the Neve Tzuf settlement, it was reported.