Son of Israel’s ambassador to US seriously injured in ramming attack in the occupied West Bank

JERUSALEM (AP) — The son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States was gravely injured in a ramming attack in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

Neria Leiter, a reservist in Israel’s military, “needs a miracle,” Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said in a social media post. Leiter’s older son, Moshe Yedidya Leiter, who also served in Israel’s military, was killed in Gaza just days after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the war in Gaza.

According to the military and law enforcement, a Palestinian man rammed his car into a security checkpoint Wednesday afternoon near the settlement of Beit Horon, seriously wounding the officer.

Israeli forces at the scene then “opened fire at the terrorist as he attempted to flee” and killed him. More military forces were deployed in the area in the aftermath.

A paramedic with the Magen David Adom emergency service said the injured officer was unconscious when crews arrived at the scene and was evacuated to a hospital in Jerusalem.

The suspect was identified as Mahmoud Suleiman, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog both sent wishes for Leiter’s recovery, whom a social media post by Herzog described as “fighting for his life.”

Earlier this week, an Israeli man was killed in a shooting attack in the West Bank, which has experienced a surge in deadly violence since the war in Gaza began.

In the spring, Ambassador Leiter was a central figure in the first direct diplomatic talks in decades between Israel and Lebanon in Washington. Later, Leiter, Lebanon’s ambassador to the U.S., and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon that was described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.