Troops shoot dead Palestinian in West Bank

APalestinian fighter tried to ram a car into Israeli soldiers yesterday in the occupied West Bank before being shot dead by troops, the army said in a statement.

“An attempted car-ramming attack took place...

when a Palestinian fighter tried to ram his car into a group of soldiers,” north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, it said.

“In response, the troops fired and neutralised the fighter,” the army said, adding there were no casualties among Israeli soldiers.

On Monday, Israeli police shot and wounded a man who attempted to stab an officer in east Jerusalem, the police said.

A string of so-called lone wolf attacks by Palestinians took place in 2015 and 2016, including stabbings and — to a lesser extent, car-rammings — though recent years have been calmer.

Israeli officials say such attacks are difficult to prevent, with fighters typically working alone without significant preplanning.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh and the EU Special Representative for the Middle East peace process Susanna Terstal have discussed the latest political developments, especially the Israel’s plans to annex Palestinian territories and the agenda of the upcoming Donors’ Conference, QNA reported from Ramallah.

During the video meeting with the EU envoy, Shtayyeh underlined the importance of the donors’ conference in supporting the building of Palestinian state institutions, noting that its continuation constitutes an important message in the face of attempts to liquidate such support, especially by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

The Palestinian prime minister stated that the Israeli entity violated all the agreements they signed, adding that it is now heading towards annexing parts of the West Bank and imposing sovereignty over them, reiterating that this constitutes a flagrant violation of all international covenants and treaties, as well as United Nations resolutions. He stressed that the Palestinian leadership responded to Israeli violations that it could no longer abide by these agreements unilaterally.

On May 19, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the PLO and the State of Palestine had been free from all agreements and understandings with the Israeli and American sides, and from all their obligations, including security.

Abbas’ comments came at a time when the Israeli entity plans to annex more than 130 settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley, in which more than 600,000 Israelis live.