Illustrative image. Source: the Israeli Defense Forces.
On November 2, an officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was seriously wounded in a car-ramming attack at a checkpoint located near the West Bank settlement of Beit Horon.
Footage of the attack showed a van ramming the officer who was manning the checkpoint, that is locally known as the “Bell”. The Palestinian driver then gets out of the vehicle and attempts to attack the officer with a pickaxe. The wounded officer was however able to shot and kill the attacker.
The officer was reportedly taken to the Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem city, where he was listed in serious but stable condition.
Palestinian media identified the attack as Khabas Riyan, 54, from the West Bank village of Bayt Duqu. Two of Riyan’s sons have served time in Israeli prisons for alleged “terror offenses”. One of them is still behind bars.
A pickaxe used by a Palestinian assailant is seen at the scene of a car-ramming attack at the ‘Bell’ checkpoint, near Modiin. Source: The Times of Israel.
This was not the first such attack this week. On August 30, a Palestinian driver rammed his car into a gathering of IDF soldiers at two locations south of the West Bank city of Jericho, wounding five of them, before being shot.
Violence has been rising sharply in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians targeted Israeli troops and settlers in the region on countless occasions in the last few months. Israel’s repeated raids and security operations in Palestinian areas are only leading to more tensions.
