Israel army says killed two Palestinians after attempted ramming attack

Israel’s military said on Sunday (December 7, 2025) that its forces killed two men in the occupied West Bank after what it described as an attempted ramming attack, with the Palestinian Authority identifying the deceased as a 17- and 55-year-old.

The Ramallah-based health ministry named the two victims as Ahmad Khalil Al-Rajabi, 17, and Ziad Jabara Abu Dawoud, 55, after the incident on Saturday (December 6) night in the Bab al-Zawiya area in the city of Hebron.

The older man was a sanitation worker, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

The Israeli army said the shooting took place after an attempted ramming attack against its troops stationed at a checkpoint.

“A terrorist accelerated toward (Israeli) soldiers during an operational activity at a security checkpoint in Hebron. The soldiers responded by firing at the terrorist in the vehicle and he was eliminated,” the army told AFP.

The military added that a second “uninvolved person” was hit but did not provide further information.

Israel’s army radio said that according to a preliminary investigation, the “uninvolved” victim was the sanitation worker, who was travelling in a different vehicle than the one used for the attempted attack.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence in the territory has soared since Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.

It has not ceased despite the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas that came into effect in October.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, many of them militants, but also scores of civilians, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.

At least 44 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.