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Car attack ... Israeli security personal stand near the site of an acid attack site in Hussan, West Bank. Picture: Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images Source: Getty Images
A PALESTINIAN has been shot and wounded after throwing acid at a family of Israelis who gave him a ride in their car in the West Bank, the army says.
“A vehicle carrying a family with four girls picked up a hitchhiker†on Friday near a checkpoint outside Bethlehem and close to the Gush Etzion settlement area, the army said in a statement.
“The hitchhiker threw acid on the passengers, injuring them lightly.â€
The attacker got out of the vehicle and was shot in the leg by a civilian and then arrested. It was unclear how seriously he was wounded.
Israeli public radio said a man and three children were injured in the attack.
Caught ... The attacker got out of the vehicle and was shot in the leg by a civilian and then arrested. Picture: Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images Source: Getty Images
The Israelis were taken to hospital, an AFP photographer said, and emergency services confirmed they had suffered light wounds.
The incident came at a time of high tensions in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, where a senior Palestinian official died in a confrontation with Israeli troops on Wednesday.
The Palestinian leadership blamed Israel for Ziad Abu Ein’s death and has threatened a response, amid speculation the Palestinian Authority would suspend security coordination with Israel in the West Bank.
Israeli ministers have called for calm, and US Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Rome on Sunday as part of efforts to defuse tensions.
Tension ... Palestinians carry the coffin of Palestinian official Ziad Abu Ein who died in a confrontation with Israeli troops. Picture: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP Source: AFP