Two Israeli soldiers died in the early hours of Thursday (30) from serious injuries suffered after being run over, in what Israeli authorities said was a deliberate attack. The episode took place the night before in Nablus, in the north of the West Bank.
The soldiers are Sergeants Eliya Hillel and Diego Shvisha Harsaj, both 20 years old and members of the infantry of the Nahshon Battalion of the Kfir Brigade, according to the Israeli Army.
The Army reported that the collision was apparently intentional and occurred when soldiers were “pursuing the terrorist who carried out the attack with a vehicle at one of the entrances to Nablus and then fled the scene.”
The Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, went to the scene of the incident last night to carry out an “initial investigation and assessment of the situation”.
Israeli media said the accident occurred while soldiers were inspecting Palestinian vehicles leaving Nablus at a random military checkpoint, when a car made a U-turn and hit them.
The person responsible for the apparent attack, a Palestinian, had surrendered to the authorities of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), according to the press.
The area of the West Bank controlled militarily by Israel is experiencing its greatest spiral of violence since the Second Intifada (2000-2005). So far in 2024, at least 191 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, most of them militiamen or attackers, but also civilians, including more than 30 minors – according to a count by EFE Agency. The year 2023 was the deadliest in two decades, with more than 520 deaths.
On the Israeli side, 12 people died in 2024 in ten Palestinian attacks, including six military personnel and six civilians, three of whom were settlers.
The Israeli army intensified its already frequent incursions into the West Bank after the Hamas attack on October 7 and, since then, around 518 Palestinians have died in violent incidents with Israel, mainly with troops but also with settlers.
On the other hand, the Israeli Army also reported the death in combat in the north of the Gaza Strip of Sergeant Yedidya Azugi, aged 21.
With this death, casualties in the Israeli ranks rise to 292 since they began the ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave at the end of October.
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