The recent wave of Palestinian violence against Israeli targets continued on Thursday evening, when a Palestinian man rammed a bulldozer into an Israel Defense Forces base near Ramallah and was shot dead by IDF troops. One soldier was lightly injured in the attack.
The Palestinian attacker was identified as Younis al-Radeideh, 30, of Beit Hanina. His brother Marei al-Radeideh was killed while carrying out a similar bulldozer attack near the Malha Mall in Jerusalem on March 5, 2009. Two Israeli traffic officers were lightly injured in the 2009 attack.
Thursday's incident began around 7 p.m., when the attacker drove a bulldozer to the gate of the Rama military base near the Palestinian town of al-Ram, southeast of Ramallah, close to Jerusalem's municipal border. A soldier guarding the gate approached the bulldozer, and the attacker tried to run him over. The soldier fled but the attacker pursued him in the bulldozer. IDF officials said the soldier took cover behind a concrete pillar, which saved him from being seriously injured.
"The preliminary investigation found that once the terrorist realized he couldn't run over the soldier, he moved quickly toward the inside of the base," a senior IDF official said. "After 150 meters, he reached a line of military vehicles and flipped one into the air."
The bulldozer later collided with another armored IDF vehicle.
Artillery Corps soldiers stationed at the base raced to the scene and opened fire at the attacker, wounding him. He died a short time later. No weapons were found on him and the bulldozer apparently belonged to his family.
"[The soldiers] quickly recognized and understood the situation and it was clear that this was a terror attack," an IDF official said.
According to Palestinian sources, the attacker went on the rampage after learning that a demolition order had been issued on his family's home in Beit Hanina.
Following Thursday evening's attack, the IDF bolstered its forces in the area. "The Jerusalem envelope is known as an area rife with friction, and therefore we're preparing for Friday prayers," an IDF official said.
The official said the IDF received no prior warning of the attack, but noted that "recent events in [Judea and Samaria] have sharpened [our awareness] and we view this sequence of events gravely. It's hard to put a finger on one factor that can explain it. For several weeks, it's been event after event, and this has changed the situational picture. On the ground, there is an atmosphere that has produced motivation for attacks, but we don't see a common thread between the events, except for the atmosphere."
The IDF is refraining from characterizing the recent chain of events as a "new intifada," but military officials admit that the trend is disturbing. An IDF official told Israel Hayom that even if there was no connection between the events of the past month, the feeling of success among the Palestinian masses has created momentum for further attacks.
Before Thursday's attack, the most recent incident of Palestinian violence against Israelis took place last week, when Sraya Ofer, a retired IDF colonel, was murdered at Brosh Habika in the Jordan Valley. Several Palestinian suspects have been arrested, but it has yet to be determined whether the motivation for the murder was nationalistic or criminal.
On Sept. 22, Staff Sgt. Gal Kobi, 20, was shot and killed by a single bullet to his neck while on duty in Hebron. It is still not clear who fired the shot and there are still many other unanswered questions over the incident. The IDF is operating on the assumption that the incident was a hostile attack, but it has still not completely ruled out other possibilities, including friendly fire.
Two days earlier, Sgt. Tomer Hazan, 20, was killed by a Palestinian who worked with him at a Bat Yam restaurant. In this case as well, the motive for the killing has not been definitely determined.
Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon (Likud) talked about the recent wave of violence during a meeting with some 100 Likud activists at Kfar Maccabiah in Ramat Gan on Wednesday.
"Look at how many security incidents there have been in the past month, yet there are still those who ignore it, release murderers and continue to conduct diplomatic negotiations," Danon said, sending a hint in the direction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"We won't be the contractors for the Left," Danon said. "We hear all the time in the media how the prime minister is expected to show leadership and responsibility, but since when does showing leadership and responsibility mean turning into a contractor for the Left?"