Description

Photo:
Scene. Published by Maan News
_____

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian on Wednesday evening after he allegedly carried out a car-ramming attack near an illegal Israeli settlement in the central occupied West Bank.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that at around 7 p.m., the Palestinian "rammed his vehicle into a bus stop at the entrance of Kochav Yaakov," a settlement directly southeast of the city of Ramallah.

"In response to the immediate threat, Israeli forces fired at the assailant, resulting in his death," the spokesperson added, further claiming that Israeli soldiers found a knife in the Palestinian's vehicle.

She added that no Israelis were injured in the incident.

Locals identified the slain Palestinian as 24-year-old Hussein Salem Abu Ghush from the Qalandiya refugee camp, located south of Kochav Yaakov.

Witnesses told Ma'an that Israeli soldiers left the Palestinian bleeding on the ground until he died, before putting him in a black body bag and putting him into a military vehicle headed towards Jerusalem.

According to Ma'an documentation, this is the seventh Palestinian to have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the year.

Five Israelis, either soldiers or police officers, have been killed by Palestinians during the same time period, all in alleged vehicular attacks.
Ma'an recorded the deaths of 112 Palestinians and 15 Israelis in 2016 as a result of violence from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.