A 24-year-old Indian-origin Israeli soldier, Staff Sergeant Geri Gideon Hanghal, was killed in a vehicle-ramming attack near the West Bank’s Beit El settlement, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) reported on Thursday. Hanghal, who was a soldier in the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, was struck by a fuel tanker close to Ramallah.
Hanghal, a member of the Bnei Menashe community, had immigrated to Israel from northeast India in 2020. The Bnei Menashe, hailing from the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram, were recognized as descendants of the lost tribe of Manasseh by Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar in 2005, paving the way for their immigration to Israel. Around 5,000 members of the community have since moved to Israel, with another 5,500 still in India awaiting their turn.
The attacker, identified as 58-year-old Hayil Dhaifallah from Rafat in the central West Bank, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers at the scene. Footage of the incident showed a truck with a Palestinian license plate veering off a busy highway and ramming into an IDF guard post near a bus stop.
The attack comes amid escalating violence in the region, with recent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and the West Bank resulting in casualties. On September 10, Israeli airstrikes targeted tents sheltering displaced civilians in Mawis Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing at least 40 Palestinians and wounding 60 others. Palestinian medics reported widespread destruction and numerous casualties following the airstrikes.
In the West Bank, five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Tubas on September 11, with two more injured during raids in Tubas and the neighbouring town of Tammun. Local reports indicate that the Israeli military has conducted over 70 airstrikes in the West Bank since October 7, raising concerns of further escalation.
The Palestinian Authority’s health ministry claims that more than 670 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7. However, the IDF maintains that the majority of those killed were gunmen, rioters, or fighters involved in attacks.
