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Photo:
Scene of incident at Tapuah Junction (MaanImages)
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian Sunday after he allegedly carried out a suspected vehicular attack that left three Israelis injured near the Tapuah Junction south of Nablus, Israeli media reported.

Israeli media reported that in addition to the three Israelis injured in the alleged attack, a fourth Israeli, 23, was shot and injured in the leg when a bullet aimed at the Palestinian driver ricocheted during the incident.

Two of the four Israelis have been evacuated via helicopter to a nearby hospital, one of which was in critical condition.

The Palestinian has been identified as Sulaiman Aqel Muhammad Shahin, 22, from al-Bireh City in Ramallah.

According to a Ma'an reporter near the scene, Israeli forces closed off Huwwara and Tapuah checkpoints south of Nablus following the suspected attack. The checkpoints control one of the main routes that connects the northern occupied West Bank to the central and southern districts.

An Israeli police spokesperson did not immediately respond for comment.

The death marks the 76th Palestinian to be killed since the beginning of last month, the majority of whom were shot dead by Israeli forces during alleged, attempted, and actual attacks on Israeli military and civilians.

On Friday, Israeli forces shot and killed an elderly Palestinian woman after an alleged vehicle attack in Halhul, north of Hebron.

A spokesperson at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem told Ma'an that the woman, aged 72, was dead upon arrival at the hospital.

Recent attacks come as Israeli intelligence said earlier this week that a recent lull in violence was unlikely to be long-term, citing high levels of frustration among the Palestinian public and a weakened Palestinian Authority.
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by Chaim Levinson and Gili Cohen for Haaretz
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Two of the casualties in the earlier car-ramming attack were seriously wounded.One of the critically wounded is a 22-year-old man, currently in surgery. The third casualty, 21, was moderately wounded and the fourth was lightly wounded. A pregnant woman was lightly wounded after sustaining wounds to her stomach.

MDA reported that at 9:29 Sunday morning the car-ramming was reported in the West Bank at the Tapuah Junction towards Huwara. 
The assailant accelerated towards the hitchhiking station near the junction where a number of civilians were standing, initial police reports indicate.

Border Police opened fire and killed the assailant on site.
"Medics and paramedics assisted IDF paramedics on scene in treating the three wounded, including two in critical condition," said Zaki Heller, the MDA Spokesperson. The victims, all conscious, were taken to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.
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