A Palestinian terrorist wearing a roughly-made suicide vest attacked Israeli border police in the West Bank on Friday before being shot as he attempted to detonate his device.
The clash occured near a military checkpoint outside the township of Ramallah.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said in a statement the assailant stabbed an officer twice before being shot and an investigation has now been launched into the attack and ” reports that the suspect had an explosive device on him or a fake explosive device.”
Israeli security forces shoot at a Palestinian man after he stabbed a soldier in the West Bank town of al-Bireh on December 15, 2017. (OREN ZIV/AFP/Getty Images)
A Palestinian man clutches his stomach after he was shot by Israeli soldiers, in reaction to his stabbing attack on a soldier, in the West Bank town of al-Bireh on December 15, 2017. (OREN ZIV/AFP/Getty Images)
A Palestinian man, wearing a suspected suicide vest, is carried into an ambulance after he was shot by Israeli forces for stabbing a soldier in the West Bank town of al-Bireh on December 15, 2017.(OREN ZIV/AFP/Getty Images)
The assailant, identified by a medical source as a 24-year-old from Hebron in the southern West Bank, was taken to hospital by Palestinian medics. He was in a critical condition, the source said.
Elsewhere, the Israeli military said that about 2,500 Palestinians took part in riots in the West Bank, rolling flaming tyres and throwing firebombs and rocks at soldiers and border police. Troops took action to break up the riots, it said in a statement.
A Palestian protester uses a stick to move flaming tires during clashes with Israeli security forces near the West Bank checkpoint of Qalandia, on the outskirts of Ramallah on December 15, 2017 as demonstrations continue to flare in the Middle East and elsewhere over US President Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. (AFP PHOTO/ABBAS MOMANI)
Similar scenes occurred along the border with Gaza Strip, where about 3,500 Palestinians demonstrated.
“During the violent riots IDF soldiers fired selectively towards main instigators,” the military said.
AFP contributed to this report
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