Israeli soldier killed in West Bank car ramming

An Israeli soldier has been killed and another wounded in a car-ramming attack in a West Bank settlement.

An IDF spokesperson tweeted that Sergeant Elchay Teharlev, 20, of the Golani Brigade, had been “killed by a terrorist in a car-ramming attack” on Thursday morning.

The Palestinian driver, named locally as 22-year old Malek Hamed, is believed to have been shot and wounded before being arrested, after he mounted the pavement at the Ofra Junction near the settlement of Ofra, north of Ramallah.

While the wave of attacks begun in September 2015 has continued, this is the first fatal attack on Israelis since January, and comes just days before the start of the Pesach holiday, prompting security fears of an upsurge in violence.

Since October 2015, more than 250 Palestinians are believed to have been killed, alongside 41 Israelis and two American Jews.