Israeli critically injured in West Bank truck attack

An Israeli national was critically wounded on Wednesday morning when a gas tanker crashed into a bus station where he was standing at the Givat Assaf Junction near the Beit El settlement in the occupied West Bank.

After the incident, Israeli security forces shot at the driver of the truck as he attempted to run them over. He is now hospitalized. According to Ynet, the assailant, Hail Issa Abed Aljabar Dief Alal, is a 58-year-old resident of the village of Rafat, near the city of Ramallah. For the moment, no group has taken responsibility for the attack. The identity of the victim was not published. Israel police blocked several roads in the area as the incident was being investigated.

The attack came three days after a Jordanian citizen shot and killed three Israeli guards at the Allenby Bridge crossing point between the occupied West Bank and Jordan. It is also called the Hussein Bridge.

Also on Wednesday, the Israeli military said two soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash at the Philadelphi Corridor in the Gaza Strip. "Overnight, an Israeli air force Yanshuf helicopter, which was on a mission to evacuate an injured soldier to a hospital for medical treatment, crashed while landing in the Rafah area in the Gaza Strip. An initial inquiry conducted indicates that the crash was not caused by enemy fire," read a statement issued by the military. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.