West Bank attack suspect is shot dead

A PALESTINIAN teenager suspected of killing two Israelis in a gun attack near the West Bank settlement of Ariel was shot dead by IDF forces near Ramallah on Tuesday.

Omar Amin Abu Lila, 19, died during a shoot-out in the village of Abwein.

He was sought in connection to the deaths of Rabbi Ahiad Ettinger, 47, and 19-year-old staff sergeant Gal Keidan, who were killed on Sunday.

An IDF spokesperson said one of its soldiers was attacked at a junction near Ariel at around 9.45am by the assailant, who stole his weapon before shooting at civilians and three passing cars.

He then entered a vehicle whose driver had fled and escaped.

The Gitai Avishar junction on Highway 5 is a central intersection of the highway which links Ariel to central Israel, with hundreds of Palestinian workers travelling through it daily.

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who attended Rabbi Ettinger’s funeral, called him “a hero in his life and a hero in his death” for apparently turning his gun on the assailant.

“In his death, he didn’t do what most people would have in that situation. He didn’t run away, but strove to confront the terrorist. He fired bullets at the murderer and paid for it with his life.”

Palestinian Islamic Jihad did not claim responsibility for the attack but praised it, saying it “was carried out in order to move the compass and bring the struggle to its natural location.”