Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry has said.
The man, named as Habis Abdel Hafeez Rayan, aged 54, was accused by the Israeli army of carrying out a vehicle ramming and stabbing attack on an Israeli soldier at a military checkpoint near a Jewish settlement.
“The assailant got out of his vehicle with an axe to attack the officer, who fired at the attacker and neutralised him,” the army said. “The officer was seriously injured and taken to hospital.”
According to witnesses, Israeli soldiers opened fire on Rayan.
Israeli army radio said the soldier was seriously injured and taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Rayan, who is from the village of Beit Duqqu northwest of Jerusalem, has a son, Asem, imprisoned in an Israeli jail.
Israel has carried out near daily raids on Palestinian towns and villages across the West Bank, which it has illegally occupied since 1967, since March, with dozens of Palestinians killed.
The attack came as early results from Tuesday’s general elections in Israel gave a narrow lead to veteran right-winger, and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the head of an alliance with religious parties and the far right.
