Four Israelis wounded in West Bank Palestinian car-ramming attack

A 20-year-old Israeli was seriously wounded after a Palestinian motorist deliberately drove into a bus stop at the entrance to a West Bank settlement on Thursday (14 May).

Three other Israelis were lightly wounded after the black Subaru slammed into the victims at a junction outside Alon Shvut, in the Gush Etzion bloc of the occupied West Bank, just south of Jerusalem.

The driver, Muhammed Arfaaya, 22, from Hebron, was arrested shortly after the incident, which took place at the site of a similar fatal attack in November.

Israel's Shin Bet Security Service said Arfaaya was driving a stolen vehicle with Israeli licence plates, and was released from prison a year ago after being charged with throwing stones and carrying a weapon.

The four victims range in age from 16 to 25. One of them has been named as Aryeh Ben Rina, the grandson of Rabbi Aharon Bina, who heads the Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh in Jerusalem's old city.

Thursday's attack is the latest in a series of attacks in the Jerusalem area over recent months.

On Monday (11 May), a 19-year-old Israeli sustained moderate injuries after he was stabbed near the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim.

On 25 April, a Palestinian youth was shot dead after he tried to stab Border Police officers at a security post near an East Jerusalem checkpoint, and on 16 April a 25-year-old Israeli was killed another and a woman was seriously wounded after being struck by a car in the French Hill neighbourhood of Jerusalem.