4 Israelis wounded in West Bank car-ramming attack

Four Israelis were injured in a car-ramming attack in the West Bank on Thursday afternoon, one of them seriously, Israeli authorities said.

A suspect rammed his car into a group of Israelis on a road near the Jewish settlement of Beit Aryeh and the Palestinian village of Al-Lubban, in the northwestern part of the West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said in a statement.

One Israeli was seriously injured, while the remaining three sustained light to moderate injuries, Israeli rescue services said.

The four were evacuated to the Bellinson hospital in Petach Tikva, a city in central Israel.

The attacker managed to flee the scene and security forces were canvassing the area in search of him.

Earlier on Thursday, a six-month-old baby was lightly injured from glass fragments after stones were thrown at Israelis' vehicle near the Jewish settlement of Beitar Ilit, south of Jerusalem.

On Wednesday evening, one Israeli was seriously wounded and another one lightly wounded in a shooting attack , near the Jewish settlement of Avnei Hefetz, not far from the Palestinian city of Tulkarem in the northwestern West Bank. The assailant managed to escape as well.

These attacks are the latest in an ongoing wave of violence between Israelis and the Palestinians that started in October.

Nineteen Israelis were killed in stabbing, shooting and vehicular attacks in the past two months. More than 110 Palestinians were killed in this period, some in clashes with Israeli security forces, while others were gunned down while allegedly committing attacks.

The violence was sparked amid strife over the flashpoint site of the al-Aqsa compound in east Jerusalem, holy to both Jewish and Muslim worshippers, and spread into full-blown violence throughout the country.

Whereas Israeli right-wing leaders blame the Palestinian Authority for incitement to violence, fueled by religious motives, the Palestinians blame the ongoing 50-year occupation by Israel of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip territories, home to more than five million Palestinians, where the Palestinian seek to establish a state, in accordance with the two-state solution.

Sources: XINHUA