Car ramming, stabbing attack in West Bank kills one, injures three
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Israeli security forces inspecting a vehicle at the site of a reported ramming and stabbing attack in the area of Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank on Nov 18.
PHOTO: EPA
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JERUSALEM - One man was killed and three other people were injured in a car ramming and stabbing attack in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Nov 18, the Israeli military and ambulance service said, in what the Israeli authorities described as a terror attack.
The Israeli military said in a statement two attackers were also killed by soldiers, but did not provide further details. It said that explosive materials were found in the vehicle used by the attackers, which were “being neutralised by Israel Border Police bomb disposal specialists”.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
The attack took place between Bethlehem and Hebron at a junction that is a traffic hub at the entrance to a cluster of Israeli settlements known as the Etzion bloc.
The Israeli ambulance service said a 30-year-old man died of a stab wound. A woman was in serious condition, while a man and boy were in moderate condition.
The attack comes against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, where a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas has held since Oct 10.
In the West Bank, Palestinians have faced tightened military restrictions and a surge in violent attacks by Jewish settlers.
Israel has been under mounting international pressure to curb the attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Nov 17 he would urgently convene Cabinet ministers to ensure Israelis behind the latest attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank are brought to justice.
On Nov 17, Israelis torched homes and vehicles in Jab’a, a Palestinian village near Bethlehem, after an earlier attack on property and civilians in the village of Sa’ir, the Wafa news agency said, quoting officials.
“The Jewish rioters in Judea and Samaria harm the State of Israel, disgrace Judaism, and cause damage to the settlement project,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on social media platform X on Nov 17.
“They are not us. They are not the State of Israel. The IDF (Israel Defence Forces), the Shin Bet (Israel’s domestic intelligence service) and the Israel Police must act decisively and firmly to stop this rampage, which is also directed at our soldiers and police officers.”
In November, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said settlers staged at least 264 attacks on Palestinians in October – the highest monthly tally since the UN began tracking incidents in 2006.
Home to 2.7 million Palestinians, the West Bank has long been at the heart of plans for a future Palestinian state existing alongside Israel. Successive Israeli governments have encouraged Israeli settlements to expand rapidly in the West Bank, fragmenting the land. REUTERS
