An Israeli civilian shot and killed a Palestinian man at the Zayit Junction near Kiryat Arba in Judea during a violent confrontation and attempted car theft overnight, the Israel Police said on Monday.

An initial probe found that the civilian discharged his weapon after fearing for his life, Ynet quoted police as saying.

Officers were called to the scene by two Israelis who reported that while attempting to remove a broken-down vehicle they had left at the junction, they found an Arab tow truck preparing to take it away.

When they approached the suspected car thieves, the Palestinians attacked. The preliminary police investigation found that “when one of the civilians’ lives was in danger, he fired at the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene.”

The second suspect, the truck driver, tried to flee with the stolen vehicle on his flatbed, dragging along the second Israeli civilian, who eventually managed to free himself after sustaining light wounds, police said.

“The vehicle was later located in the area, following rapid searches led by the Hebron police station,” it stated. “Another suspect who attacked the second citizen in the incident fled, and police forces are working to locate him.”

In June 2024, an elderly Israeli man was murdered when Palestinians tried to steal his car near the Arab city of Qalqilya in western Samaria.

Palestinian terrorists targeted Jews in Judea and Samaria at least 6,343 times in 2024, according to figures published by the Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) NGO in mid-February.

Twenty-seven Israelis were murdered in Judea and Samaria in 2024, and more than 300 others were wounded, the group said in its annual report.

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