Palestinian shot dead after ramming Israeli soldiers

In the first attack, a Palestinian drove into two soldiers at a bus station near Kfar Adumim settlement, northeast of Jerusalem, and was shot dead, police said.

A few hours earlier another Palestinian allegedly rammed his vehicle into Israeli soldiers at a bus stop near a Jewish settlement, police said.

The Oslo Accords define Nablus city as Area A – that is, under full Palestinian civil and military control. A 21-year-old man was fatally shot in the head, according to Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Mohammed Awawdeh.

The soldiers were lightly injured in the incident near the flashpoint city of Hebron, according to the emergency services. Yaalon said attackers have managed to get through the structure in recent weeks.

Mr Yaalon told MPs construction of the fence will take a year. Egypt is struggling to put down an Islamic insurgency in the volatile northern Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel.

Israel is said to be reviewing the incident.

The spokesperson added that the soldiers used a Ruger rifle with 0.22 caliber, used by security forces to disperse riots, considered less lethal than ordinary weapons used by the forces. He was also killed by security forces.

That is at odds with the Israeli government’s view that the main driver is incitement by the Palestinian leadership and weak security enforcement by President Mahmoud Abbas.

Tsipras told Abbas, “My trip to Palestine comes in rough times that are shaded with great tension and violence against civilians, which amplifies our concern”. Last month, Abbas went on PA television and implicitly endorsed the murders, claiming that they were in defense of Muslim holy sites.

Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) recently gave a number of recommendations to ease conditions for the Palestinians, including changes in the system for granting permits to work in Israel in order to increase the number of young Palestinians who can go out to work. Palestinians say the attacks stem from a lack of hope for gaining independence after years of failed peace efforts. It said locals threw petrol bombs and rocks at the troops, who fired at one of them.

The latest bill passed a preliminary vote, but would require further approvals to become law.