Son of Israel's US envoy injured in West Bank ramming attack

RAMALLAH: Israeli ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter said his son was the soldier injured in a car-ramming attack on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli police said earlier a Palestinian man drove a car at high speed towards a policewoman and a soldier who were conducting vehicle searches at an intersection near the Israeli settlement of Beit Horon west of Ramallah.

"As a result, the soldier was wounded and is currently receiving medical treatment. The attacker was killed by the forces," the police added.

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency services said its teams had evacuated a man in serious condition to hospital.

Ambassador Leiter said his son was the injured soldier, adding: "Neria needs a miracle."

"Neria continued to serve in the reserves after losing his older brother, Moshe Yedidya Leiter," he added on X, referring to another son who was killed in action in Gaza in November 2023.

Israeli politicians responded with words of support.

"My wife Sara and I, together with all the people of Israel, are praying for a miracle," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X.

Israel's public broadcaster Kan reported that the ambassador was meant to attend Netanyahu's speech at the UN General Assembly on Thursday, but was instead flying back to Israel to see his son.

Netanyahu's office said the prime minister visited Neria Leiter in the hospital before departing for the United States.

The statement said Leiter was "very seriously wounded" in the attack.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said it had been informed of the death of 29-year-old Mahmoud Mohammad Mahmoud Suleiman, "who was shot by Israeli forces near the village of Beit Ur al-Tahta, west of Ramallah."

It added that Israeli authorities were withholding his body.

Beit Ur al-Tahta mayor Hazem Suleiman, who is not related to Mahmoud Suleiman, told AFP that Israeli forces raided the village and searched the man's family home.

"The town is closed off, with all its entrances blocked. There is no social or commercial activity, and no signs of normal life," he said, adding that the army had also searched other houses.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and violence there has surged since Hamas's Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

On Sunday, an Israeli settler was shot dead in the West Bank, with the military saying it had arrested the suspected gunman.

That same day, Israel's military also reported an attempted car-ramming in the West Bank, in which the perpetrator was killed.

According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli forces or settlers have killed 1,110 Palestinians in the territory since the start of the Gaza war.

Israeli figures show at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.