One Israeli killed and five injured in West Bank attack

Incident near the city of Modiin was the third in 12 hours

Israeli medics at the scene of the latest West Bank attack. MDA

An Israeli man was killed and five people were injured in a ramming attack at a checkpoint bordering the occupied West Bank on Thursday morning.

The 20-year-old man who died was an off-duty soldier, the Israeli military said later.

The Palestinian attacker, who reportedly ran over the victims with his vehicle, was shot dead soon after at another checkpoint, according to Israel’s military.

"The assailant [drove] his truck towards the Hashmona'im Crossing and was later neutralised by security personnel of the Ministry of Defence," the army said.

Israeli media reported that the attacker was Daoud Abdel Razak Faiz, 41, a father of five from the West Bank, who had permission to work in Israel. He had no prior security offences.

Three of the injured were off-duty soldiers, who along with the man who died, were heading to spend leisure time in the Israeli city of Modiin. A Palestinian teenager and an Israeli couple were also hit, sustaining light injuries.

Gaza-based militant organisation Hamas praised the attack, saying it "sent a clear message that there is no security for the occupier".

The attack near the city of Modiin is the third in a string of incidents over a 12-hour period.

Shortly after Thursday's attack, Israeli forces raided the town of Deir Ammar, west of Ramallah, where they exchanged gunfire with armed groups.

At least one person was injured by live ammunition, while another woman was injured by rubber bullets. Several others were affected by tear gas, Palestine's state news agency Wafa said.

On Wednesday evening, an Israeli border police officer shot dead a Palestinian boy, 14, who stabbed and wounded a civilian at a tram station in Jerusalem.

Not long after, Palestinian militants detonated a bomb near a convoy of Israeli troops escorting Jewish worshippers to a holy site in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, injuring an officer and three soldiers.

A local branch of Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

The troops were escorting worshippers to Joseph’s Tomb – a flashpoint shrine.

A crowd gathers at the scene of the Jerusalem stabbing attack on Wednesday evening. EPA

The army bans Israelis from travelling to the area, but at least once a month it allows religious Jews to visit the site under its supervision, often provoking violence with Palestinians.

The militant organisation of Palestinian Islamic Jihad has attacked Israeli sites several times this year, including from the West Bank, southern Lebanon and its base in the Gaza Strip.

The attacks came hours after fighting broke out in a Palestinian refugee camp between residents and their own security forces, killing a Palestinian man, 25.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict so far has claimed the lives of at least 223 Palestinians this year.

At least 31 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have also been killed this year, AFP reported.