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A Palestinian man attempted to ram a bulldozer into an IDF base situated between Jerusalem and Ramallah yesterday evening, before being stopped by troops who shot him dead.

Initial reports say that the man, later identified as Younis Obaidi from Beit Hanina, approached the main gate of the base at A-Ram which serves an Artillery Corps battalion. YNet says that when the soldier guarding the entrance approached Obaidi, he attempted to run over the soldier with his bulldozer and then broke through the perimeter fence. An unnamed officer said that Obaidi drove for a further 150 metres, hitting two army vehicles in his path, before two soldiers responded to the attack and opened fire. An IDF medical team pronounced Obaidi dead a short while later.

Reuters quotes an IDF spokeswoman who said, “A Palestinian … posed an immediate life threat to soldiers nearby. They opened fire towards the suspect and reported a direct hit.” According to reports, Obaidi is the brother of Marei al-Radeideh, who in 2009 carried out a similar attack in Jerusalem, hitting two vehicles before he too was shot at the scene. In 2008, Jerusalem suffered a spate of terror attacks involving bulldozers which left several Israelis dead.

Israel Radio reports that Israeli officials believe Obaidi acted on his own. However, yesterday’s attack is the latest in a series of incidents in the West Bank which have left Israelis either dead or injured. Last week, Seraiah Ofer was bludgeoned to death in the Jordan Valley and a week beforehand, a nine-year-old girl was shot by an assailant just outside her home in Psagot. Last month, an IDF soldier was kidnapped and murdered near Beit Amin and another was shot dead in Hebron. YNet quotes a senior Israeli officer who said that although nothing connects these incidents, “there is an atmosphere that creates motivation to carry out terror attacks.”