(Ramallah) A Palestinian man was killed by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, with the Israeli military saying the man had tried to carry out an attack.
“Ahmed Yacoub Taha, 39, was killed by (Israeli) occupation bullets near Salfit,” the ministry said in a statement.
The city of Salfit is located in the northern West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
The IDF reported “an attempted car-ramming attack near the Gitai Avissar Junction” in the Salfit area.
“A terrorist attempted to run over civilians and members of the security forces at the crossroads then got out of his vehicle with a knife in his hand and attempted to stab a police officer,” the army said in a statement. , adding that “soldiers opened fire in his direction and neutralized him”.
No one was injured on the Israeli side, she said.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has seen a wave of increased violence since January.
Since the beginning of the year, it has claimed the lives of at least 99 Palestinians, 19 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian, according to an AFP tally compiled from official Israeli and Palestinian sources.
These figures include, on the Palestinian side, combatants and civilians, including minors, and on the Israeli side, the majority of civilians, including minors, and three members of the Arab minority.
