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Photo:
Scene. Published by IMEMC News

Emergency medical teams at the scene of a suspected car-ramming attack in the Palestinian village of Husan, June 23, 2018. Credit: United Hatzalah. Published by Haaretz
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by IMEMC News

Three Israeli soldiers were injured Saturday night, after being hit by a Palestinian car near Husan town, west of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

Although the Israeli military claimed that the soldiers were hit deliberately in what they called a “suspected car-ramming attack”, there was no evidence that the collision was anything beyond a car accident.

A cell phone video after the incident shows Palestinian civilians approaching the injured soldiers to try to help them.

A female soldier is seen in the video calling on her radio for an ambulance, and the Palestinian civilians nearby reiterate that an ambulance is needed, and a person can be heard crying after seeing the injured soldiers.

The three soldiers suffered mild injuries, and were rushed by Israeli medics to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, in occupied Jerusalem.

Israeli daily Haaretz said the military initiated a search campaign to arrest the driver, who fled the scene, leaving his vehicle behind.

The driver, from Deheishe refugee camp, in Bethlehem, contacted the Palestinian police in Bethlehem, and told them that what happened was merely an accident, and that he fled the scene because he feared the soldiers would kill him, similar to what happened in previous incidents when the military claimed that car accidents were deliberate attacks, and soldiers killed the drivers immediately on the scene.

In 2015, for instance, an elderly Palestinian woman, Tharwat Salman Sha’rawi, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers after a car accident.

And in 2016, another Palestinian woman, Amani Sabateen, a mother of five, was shot and killed after her vehicle accidentally struck an Israeli soldier who was on the street in her town, injuring him.

Haaretz quoted a source in Deheishe refugee camp stating that the brother of the driver in Saturday’s incident was recently abducted by the soldiers. This led the paper to claim that the incident “could have been an act of revenge.” The Israeli army claimed it was investigating the incident.

It is worth mentioning that the soldiers were invading Husan when the incident took place and were deployed on foot in various streets.
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Three Israeli Soldiers Wounded in Suspected West Bank Car-ramming Attack

The three are lightly injured; security forces are searching for the driver, who has fled the scene

by Yotam Berger, Jack Khoury and Yaniv Kubovich for Haaretz
Jun 23, 2018 11:30 PM

Three Israeli soldiers were wounded in a suspected car-ramming attack that took place west of Bethlehem in the West Bank.

The military said that the three suffered light wounds and are being treated on the scene.

A Palestinian Authority security source told Haaretz that the suspect, a resident of the Deheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem, contacted the Palestinian security establishment and insisted it was an accident. He is expected to turn himself in, according to assessments.

A Palestinian source in Deheisheh told Haaretz the suspect's brother was arrested by the Israeli army on Thursday, and it is possible the attack was retibutive. The camp is on high alert for the army's expected entry, which could lead to could lead to riots by many of its residents.

In a statement, the military said that a Palestinian driver tried to run over Home Front Command soldiers who were patrolling by foot in the Palestinian village of Husan, located near the settlement of Betar Illit. The army also said that the incident was being investigated.

The soldiers were treated by medical emergency teams at the scene and later evacuated to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

The driver who carried out the attack has fled the scene and security forces are currently scouting the area in order to find the suspect.

More details soon...