Palestinian shot dead after suspected car ramming

A Palestinian was shot dead on Tuesday after a suspected car ramming attack on a group of Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank left three soldiers injured.

"An assailant rammed a vehicle into three Israelis in a car ramming attack northwest of Ramallah," the army said, adding that the suspect was shot dead.

The army later confirmed that the injured were soldiers, and said they were taken to hospital for treatment without giving further details.

The Palestinian health ministry said the attack occurred at a checkpoint and named the suspected attacker as Ahmed Shahaada, 36, from the Qalandia refugee camp near Ramallah.

Eyewitnesses told the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency that the Palestinian was driving a mid-size truck and struck the Israeli soldiers while they were crossing the street, in what looked like an accidental collision.

Soldiers at the checkpoint fired several rounds at the driver, then they pulled him out of the truck and fired at him again, witnesses told Ma'an.

Witnesses added that Israeli forces prevented Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances from accessing the scene to treat the driver, and he was left bleeding from several bullet wounds until he died. His body was later transferred to an unknown location.

Since the increase in violence, there have been repeated witness reports of Israeli military preventing Palestinian ambulances from reaching injured or dying Palestinians while Israeli paramedics failed to treat them.

The attack was the latest in a wave of violence that has killed 204 Palestinians and 28 Israelis since October 1.

Earlier on Tuesday, police said they had arrested a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem's Old City suspected of stabbing a Jewish man in his 60s there late on Monday.

Israel blames the attacks on Palestinian incitement while Palestinians lay the blame on frustration stemming from nearly five decades of Israeli military occupation.