A Palestinian man driving a car was killed by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank early Tuesday, in what the military said was an attempt to run over soldiers on a mission in the area.
According to the IDF, the incident occurred in the pre-dawn hours after troops from the Kfir Brigade entered the town of Bir Nabala near Ramallah to carry out a series of arrests and confiscate illegal weapons.
Scene of the shooting near Ramallah early Tuesday
Local Palestinian officials identified the man as 42-year-old Osama Sidqi Mansour. His wife was also shot and wounded in the incident.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Mansour died "after being hit in the head by live ammunition in Bir Nabala ... while his wife was hit and wounded by bullets in the back."
According to the military spokesperson, the troops who shot the victim were standing at a checkpoint, set up on one of the roads in order to close down the area, when Mansour approached them in a car and started talking to the soldiers. He then suddenly began speeding toward the troops who responded by firing at the suspect.
There were no injuries or casualties among the Israeli soldiers.
"IDF troops thwarted a car ramming in the Binyamin region. The soldiers at the checkpoint identified a vehicle stopping and suddenly accelerating towards another group of fighters operating in the area, in a way that endangered their lives. The fighters responded by firing [at the vehicle] to neutralize the threat," the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said in a statement.
AFP contributed to this report