RAMALLAH: Israeli ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter said his son was the soldier injured in a car-ramming attack on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, prompting reactions of support from Israeli politicians.

“Neria needs a miracle. Neria continued to serve in the reserves after losing his older brother, Moshe Yedidya Leiter,” Leiter said on X, referring to his other son who was killed in action in Gaza in November 2023.

“My wife Sara and I, together with all the people of Israel, are praying for a miracle,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded in another post on X.

Earlier on Wednesday, officials said car-ramming at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank seriously injured an Israeli soldier, with troops killing the attacker.

The assailant drove towards a policewoman and a soldier who were conducting vehicle searches at an intersection near the Israeli settlement of Beit Horon west of Ramallah, Israeli police said.

“As a result, the soldier was wounded and is currently receiving medical treatment. The attacker was killed by the forces,” the police added.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services said its teams had evacuated a man in serious condition to hospital.

The Palestinian health ministry said it had been informed of the death of 29-year-old Mahmoud Mohammad Mahmoud Suleiman, “who was shot by Israeli forces near the village of Beit Ur al-Tahta, west of Ramallah”.

It added that Israeli authorities were withholding his body.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and violence there has surged since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

On Sunday, an Israeli settler was shot dead in the West Bank with the military saying it had arrested the suspected gunman.

That same day, Israel’s military also reported an attempted car-ramming in the West Bank, in which the perpetrator was killed.

According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces or settlers have killed 1,110 Palestinians in the territory since the start of the Gaza war.

Israeli figures show at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.