Israel arrests Palestinian for injuring soldier in car-ramming attack

Jerusalem, Jan 12 (IANS) A Palestinian was arrested after he allegedly carried out a car-ramming attack in the Israel-occupied West Bank, injuring a soldier, the Israeli military said.

The incident took place outside the Israeli settlement of Halamish on Tuesday.

The driver "accelerated his car toward a number of soldiers who were securing the route," a military spokesperson added in a statement, adding the car "hit a soldier who has been evacuated to a hospital by an Israel Air Force helicopter that was dispatched to the scene."

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency health service said in a statement that the 19-year-old soldier sustained moderate injuries in his legs, Xinhua news agency reported.

The suspect was apprehended and "transferred to security forces for further questioning," the statement said.

The incident came amid a rise in both Palestinian violence against Israeli soldiers and settlers and settlers' attacks against Palestinian farmers and villagers in the West Bank.

Israel seized the West Bank in a 1967 war and has controlled it ever since, despite international condemnation.