Violence flared in the occupied West Bank on Sunday after a suspected Palestinian gunman shot dead an Israeli man, police said, while Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian motorist who the military said had attempted to run them over.
The gunman opened fire from a vehicle at Israelis gathered at a spring near the settlement of Neve Tzuf, near Ramallah, according to the Israeli military and police.
Medics who arrived at the scene found a man in a car suffering from critical gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. The gunman was located several hours later at a hospital in Ramallah and arrested, police said.
Shortly after the shooting, the military said its forces had “eliminated” a Palestinian driver who had attempted a ramming attack on soldiers near the settlement of Ganim, further north in the West Bank. No soldiers were hurt, it said. It is not known if the two incidents, which occurred on the eve of the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, are connected.
Following the incidents, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed security agencies to increase their presence and carry out arrests and offensive operations in the area. The Palestinian militant group Hamas praised the shooting but did not claim responsibility for it.
Violence has escalated in the West Bank since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the ensuing Israeli military offensive in Gaza. The violence has included a sharp rise in attacks by militant settlers on Palestinians, as well as sweeping Israeli military raids and Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
