Israeli soldier shoots dead Palestinian man who stabbed him in West Bank attack

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group claimed the driver was one of its 'martyrs'

Israeli soldiers next to a car in which Palestinian man was shot dead after stabbing a soldier on 24 August, near Nablus in the West Bank. (AFP/Getty Images)

An Israeli soldier has shot a Palestinian man who stabbed him in the West Bank in the latest attack in an almost year-long wave of violence.

Officials said the attacker died of his wounds at the scene, while the soldier was taken to hospital for treatment and discharged shortly afterwards on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the assailant had thrown rocks from his car at a passing military patrol vehicle, which then gave chase near the settlement of Ariel.

A photo of Sari Abu Gharab, who was shot dead after attacking an Israeli soldier on 24 August

When the soldier approached, the man stabbed him and he responded by pushing the attacker backwards and shooting him, she said.

Graphic photos shared on social media and seen by The Independent showed the man’s body in the driver’s seat, attached to medical equipment.

The car’s bodywork and tyres could be seen riddled with bullet holes as it sat on Route 60, a dual carriageway with restrictions for both Israeli and Palestinian drivers in different sections.

The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine named the driver as Sari Abu Gharab, from the northern West Bank village of Qabatiya, near Jenin.

It claimed the 26-year-old was one of its members and hailed him as a “martyr”, saying he had recently been imprisoned by Israeli forces for militant links.

Islamic Jihad has been internationally proscribed as a terrorist group following decades of suicide bombings and attacks against Israel.

Gharab’s family home was reportedly stormed by the IDF on Thursday morning, with soldiers carrying out searches and interviews in the area in a pattern seen after previous attacks.

His relatives rejected the claims that he attacked a soldier, Haaretz reported, saying he would soon be marrying his fiancée and was planning to open a restaurant within days.

Qabatiya was blockaded for several days earlier this year after clashes following the murder of a teenage Israeli border police officer by three local men.

Wednesday’s incident was the latest in scores of stabbings, shootings and car rammings attacks by Palestinians in a new wave of violence that started in September.

Israeli soldiers search a house in the West Bank village of Madama after an attack on 24 August 2016 (EPA)

At least 33 Israelis and two visiting Americans have been killed, while more than 200 Palestinians have been shot dead by security forces.

Israeli officials said the vast majority were carrying out or attempting attacks, but others have been killed during protests.

Several incidents have been contested and the United Nations has voiced concern over the “excessive use of force”, calling for independent investigations into each death and injury caused by the security services.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, has blamed the attacks on Palestinian incitement but the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, said anger was "bred from nearly five decades of Israeli occupation".

Peace talks between Israel and Palestinians collapsed in 2014 and recent tensions have been inflamed by the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are widely regarded as illegal under international law.

The Gaza Strip was also bombed by the Israeli Air Force last week following a rocket attack by Islamist militants.