BICOM

A suspected terrorist charged security officers at a checkpoint near Ramallah yesterday before being shot and wounded. Meanwhile, an Israeli man who was shot in his car in the West Bank on Monday evening succumbed to his wounds and died.

In yesterday’s incident at the Kalandiya checkpoint, a 21-year-old Palestinian man reportedly shouted “Allah akbar” at border policemen before charging them. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, “Warning shots were fired into the air, and the man was told to stop, but he continued to run toward the guards, and was shot.” He was taken to a Jerusalem hospital and treated for stomach wounds but was said to be in moderate condition.

There have been a number of attacks on security personnel in recent weeks in the West Bank and Jerusalem. On Monday morning, a female Israeli soldier was stabbed in the neck by a Palestinian woman at a checkpoint near Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. Two weeks ago, at the entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City, an 18-year-old Palestinian stabbed a border policeman, who was able to shoot his attacker. Both were critically injured.

Civilians have also been targeted by terrorists in recent weeks. On Monday evening, four Israeli men in their 20s were injured after the car they were travelling in came under gunfire in the West Bank. One of the victims, 26-year-old Malachi Moshe Rosenfeld yesterday died from his wounds. He was shot not far from the spot at which 25-year-old Danny Gonen was shot and killed last month by a gunman as he returned from hiking with a friend near the West Bank settlement of Dolev.

The spate of attacks has led to speculation of a coordinated terror campaign, especially in the Ramallah area. Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon yesterday said that Hamas leaders based in Turkey were responsible for the violence. Some have suggested that the spike in attacks intentionally coincide with the one-year anniversary of the killing of Palestinian boy Mohammed Abu Khdeir by Jewish extremists.