Assailant Killed, Border Policeman Injured in West Bank Attack

A Palestinian man was shot and killed at a West Bank checkpoint Wednesday morning. The man allegedly rammed his van into an Israeli border policeman at the checkpoint, between the village of Abu Dis and the city of Bethlehem just east of Jerusalem, and then exited the vehicle and attacked the officer with a pair of scissors. Soldiers at the scene shot dead the perpetrator, who was allegedly in possession of a pipe bomb. The border policeman was moderately injured in the attack. “On behalf of all Israelis, I send my wishes for a fast recovery to the officer who was hurt and praise the troops who worked quickly to neutralize the terrorist,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a statement. The incident comes amid on overall decrease in terror attacks attributed to the coronavirus health crisis, which over the past six weeks has induced authorities to implement closures throughout Israel and Palestinian Authority-controlled territory.