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An Israeli soldier stands guard at the Qalandiya checkpoint as thousands of Palestinians wait to cross from the West Bank to Jerusalem (AFP/Thomas Coex, File)

A vehicle used in an attempted car-ramming attack in Silwad on Dec. 18, 2015. (Photo credit: Israeli Police)

A Palestinian vehicle crashed at the Qalandiya checkpoint on Dec. 18, 2015. (Photo credit: Israeli Police)
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RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- A Palestinian was killed and another injured Friday after reportedly attempting to carry out separate vehicular attacks on Israeli military in the Ramallah district of the occupied West Bank.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that Israeli forces shot a Palestinian man after he attempted to run his car into military forces during a "riot" near the town of Silwad northeast of Ramallah.

The man -- identified by locals as Muhammad Abd al-Rahman Ayyad, 21 -- died shortly after, the spokesperson confirmed.

Ayyad was reportedly left to bleed in his vehicle before an Israeli ambulance arrived, taking his body in a black plastic bag to an unknown destination, according to locals.

Locals told Ma’an that Ayyad had left a will before carrying out the attack.

Just an hour earlier, another Palestinian was shot and detained after he reportedly attempted to run his vehicle into Israeli forces deployed at the Qalandiya military checkpoint near Ramallah, Israeli police said.

A spokesperson for Israeli police, Luba al-Samri, said that a man in a vehicle with Palestinian license plates approached the checkpoint and sped towards Israeli police and soldiers in an attempt to run them over.

“A guard then opened fire at the car as it hit a cement column,” al-Samri said in a statement.

Israeli forces opened fire again when the man in the vehicle -- a Palestinian in his thirties -- reportedly exited the car and jogged towards security forces, al-Samri continued.

The man was hit in the lower extremities before he was detained and taken to a hospital after receiving first aid on the scene.
Al-Samri said the suspect was from the Turmusayya village north of Ramallah.

The military checkpoint -- a main entry and exit point for Palestinians to Jerusalem -- was closed to traffic in both directions following the attempted attack.

No Israeli injuries were reported in either incident.

The incident comes as near-daily attacks have been carried out by Palestinian individuals on Israeli military and civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory in recent months.

Israeli forces on Thursday killed 15-year-old Abdullah Hussein Nasasra at the Huwwara military checkpoint near Nablus after the army said he attempted to stab a soldier.

At least 124 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since Oct. 1, and 19 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians during the same time period.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs said in a report Friday that the circumstances of several of deaths remain disputed while citing “serious concern” for Israel’s excessive use of force and “extrajudicial killing” in many cases.

Tensions in the Qalandiya area have been running high in recent weeks, with two Palestinians killed Wednesday during a predawn military raid in the Qalandiya refugee camp.

The week before, armed Palestinian protesters closed the main road leading to Qalandiya checkpoint demanding that Israel release the body of a young girl killed by Israeli forces in Jerusalem on Nov. 23
Sixteen-year-old Hadeel Wajih Awwad -- a Qalandiya camp resident -- was shot dead and her 14-year-old cousin critically injured after reportedly carrying out a stab attack with scissors in West Jerusalem.
Her body was expected to be delivered by Israeli officials at Qalandiya military checkpoint at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

The week before the teen’s death, Israeli forces had killed two Palestinians in the refugee camp during a raid to demolish the home of an alleged Palestinian attacker.
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Nir Hasson and Almog Ben Zikri for Haaretz

At least two Palestinians were killed in clashes with the Israeli army along the border fence with Gaza and in the West Bank on Friday, hours after a Palestinian shot while attempting a car-ramming attack in the West Bank died of his wounds.

According to the Israeli army, in the alleged West Bank attack, the second of its kind Friday, the Palestinian tried to ram his car into a group of soldiers during clashes in the village of Silwad when he was shot.

No Israeli casualties were reported in the incident and an Israeli police spokeswoman said the Palestinian had a knife with him in the car.

Several hours later, another Palestinian was reportedly killed during clashes with the IDF in the village of Sinjil, north east of Ramallah. He was identified by Palestinian media as Nashat Asfur.

Meanwhile, Palestinian news agency Ma'an quoted Gaza’s Health Ministry as saying that Mahmoud Muhammad Saed al-Agha, 20, was killed by IDF fire during clashes near Khan Younis in Gaza. The report also said some 30 people were injured by rubber bullet fire.
Earlier, riots were reported along Israel's border fence with Gaza, with a dozen or so protesters burning tires and throwing fire bombs at Israeli security forces across the border, who responded with gun fire.

The attempted car attack was the second to occur on Friday. Earlier in the day, a Palestinian driver was shot and wounded when a security guard spotted him speeding toward security personnel at the Qalandiyah checkpoint outside Jerusalem. According to a police report, a security guard opened fire at assailant's car, causing the car to swerve and hit a cement block, coming to a stop. 

The driver, a 30-year-old resident of Turmus Ayya in the West Bank, stepped out of the vehicle and started running toward the guards, at which point he was shot in the lower body. The suspected assailant was being treated by paramedics at the scene.