JERUSALEM: Israeli police on Sunday opened fire at a pair of suspected attackers who rammed their car into a West Bank checkpoint, fatally shooting a young Palestinian girl in an adjacent vehicle, according to police and medical officials.
The two suspects were also shot, while a young police officer was lightly hurt. The Sunday evening incident came hours after nine people were killed in other unrest in the occupied territory, which has experienced a surge of violence since Israel’s war against Hamas erupted on Oct. 7.
Israeli police said the ramming took place at a checkpoint near the Palestinian village of Biddu, just northwest of Jerusalem.
Security camera footage showed a white car plowing into a pair of Israeli police at the checkpoint. Police then chase after the vehicle, opening fire.
Police said a man and woman inside the car were shot, but a girl in a van in front of them was shot as well. The girl, who was reported to be 3 or 4 years old, was pronounced dead by Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service.
Police said a preliminary investigation found that “during the rapid response of the officers toward the terrorists’ vehicle, the vehicle with the child may have been affected.” They promised a “thorough investigation.”
The conditions of the suspected attackers was not immediately known, but the rescue service said a female officer in the paramilitary border police was lightly wounded.
Earlier on Sunday, a man driving a car with Israeli license plates was fatally shot at a busy intersection in the West Bank, hours after a violent confrontation elsewhere left seven Palestinians and a border policewoman dead.
The victim in the drive-by shooting was later identified as a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem. The assailants presumably mistook him for an Israeli because of the license plates. Palestinian militants have carried out scores of shooting attacks against Israelis in the West Bank over the years, and the military described Sunday’s shooting as such an incident.
The Israeli army said security forces were searching the area for the shooter. Israeli media reported that security forces found an abandoned car that was likely used to carry out the attack, and the suspect fled on foot.
Hours earlier, a deadly confrontation erupted when Israeli security forces were on patrol to search for roadside bombs in Jenin, a town and adjacent urban refugee camp in the northern West Bank.
A roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle of the paramilitary border police, killing a policewoman and wounding three others, police said.
An Israeli military helicopter targeted Palestinians in the area who were throwing explosives at Israeli vehicles and extracted the Israeli forces, the Israeli army said. Seven Palestinians were killed in the airstrike, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Mujahhid Nazal, a doctor at nearby clinic, said he heard a “strong explosion” and rushed to the scene. “It was a really dire situation, seven young men were lying on the ground,” he said.
At a funeral for six of those killed in Jenin, four of the men were wrapped in the green flags of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has been locked in a war with Israel in Gaza for the past three months. The two others were covered by the Palestinian flag and the yellow banner of the Fatah movement, a Hamas rival.
The latest events followed a dramatic surge in deadly military raids and increase in restrictions on Palestinian residents across the West Bank during the Israel-Hamas war.
Violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the territory has also reached record highs, according to the United Nations.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed 330 Palestinians in the West Bank since Hamas’ cross-border attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, in which 1,200 people were killed and roughly 250 were taken hostage.
Most of the Palestinians were killed during shootouts in the West Bank that the Israeli military says began during operations to arrest Palestinian gunmen.
Young Palestinian girl killed when Israeli police fire at suspected attackers in West Bank unrest
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Young Palestinian girl killed when Israeli police fire at suspected attackers in West Bank unrest
- Israeli police said the ramming took place at a checkpoint near the Palestinian village of Biddu, just northwest of Jerusalem
How talks in Riyadh led to the end of harsh US sanctions on Syria
- Congress’ repeal of the Caesar Act caps a Saudi-led diplomatic push to reintegrate a war-weary nation into the global economy
- The end of tough US sanctions opens the door to foreign investment as Damascus reenters the world stage, analysts say
RIYADH: What began as a Saudi-led push to reengage Syria after the fall of Bashar Assad reached a pivotal moment on Dec. 17 when the US Congress voted to permanently repeal the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019.
The long-awaited step has removed a major obstacle to foreign investment and economic recovery in Syria, analysts say, further easing the nation’s global reintegration after years of international isolation.
“Saudi Arabia believed that bringing Syria back into the Arab fold was the right path forward,” Ghassan Ibrahim, a Syria expert and head of the London-based Global Arab Network, told Arab News.
“To achieve this, it required a strong and clear decision to support Syria. One of the main challenges was lifting sanctions and reconnecting Syria with the US, and Saudi Arabia played a major role in accomplishing that.”
Hani Nasira, a regional political analyst, said the decision stemmed from a meeting in Riyadh in May between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, US President Donald Trump, and Syria’s interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa.
“Following this decision, Syria will regain its vitality, and the train of development will return to the country,” Nasira told Arab News.
He said Saudi Arabia has emerged as “the foremost driving force and the most important incubator” of Syria’s return to the international community — a role underscored by Washington’s decision to end its strictest sanction.
Trump signaled that intent at the start of his three-day visit to Saudi Arabia on May 13. “After discussing the situation in Syria with the (Saudi) crown prince, I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” he said.
The following day in Riyadh, Trump met Al-Sharaa — who had led the rebel offensive that toppled Assad on Dec. 8, 2024 — marking the first high-level US-Syria meeting in a quarter of a century.
The meeting represented a dramatic turn for a country still adjusting to life after more than five decades of Assad family rule, and for an interim president who until recently had a $10 million bounty on his head.
“The meeting in Riyadh between the three leaders was carefully arranged and reflected a shared desire and need for cooperation between Syria and Saudi Arabia,” Ibrahim said.
“This cooperation laid the groundwork for a new type of coalition — one aimed at bringing greater stability and prosperity to the region.
“The Saudi, American and Syrian leaderships came together around a common vision; that stability is the pathway to prosperity. This vision aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, and all sides shared similar perspectives and objectives.”
Diplomatic momentum quickly followed. On May 23, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a 180-day waiver of the Caesar Act’s secondary sanctions to facilitate humanitarian aid and early recovery efforts.
Nearly a month later, on June 30, Trump issued an executive order terminating the broader US sanctions program on Syria, effective July 1, and instructed the State Department to review whether additional Caesar-mandated sanctions should be suspended.
In November, following Al-Sharaa’s historic visit to the White House — the first Syrian leader to do so — the Caesar Act suspension was temporarily extended for another 180 days before Congress ultimately moved to repeal it.
“When Assad was in power, Syria’s only allies were Iran and Russia,” Ibrahim said. “After his removal, Syria was left with just one uncertain partner: Russia. That made reconnecting with the world essential.
“President Al-Sharaa chose Saudi Arabia as the first gateway to reestablish Syria’s ties with the international community. Saudi Arabia did not hesitate; it supported the new Syria and its new leadership.
“The relationship between the two countries had always existed, but it needed this push to be fully restored.”
First imposed in 2019 during Trump’s first term, the Caesar Act was a cornerstone of US pressure on the former Syrian regime.
Designed to deter foreign entities from doing business with Damascus, the law reportedly exacted a heavy toll on ordinary Syrians already suffering through a civil war that began in 2011.
Although the act formally expired in December last year under its five-year sunset clause, Congress renewed it through the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, extending its reach into 2029 before reversing course months later.
Assad fled to Russia on Dec. 8, 2024, after Al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham seized Damascus. In the months that followed, and amid appeals from Saudi Arabia and other regional powers, the Trump administration reassessed its Syria policy.
Beyond the symbolic importance of repealing the Caesar Act, Nasira said it will facilitate the release of Syrian assets held abroad, estimated at about $400 million, providing critical funding for economic reforms.
The World Bank estimates that reconstruction will cost between $140 billion and $345 billion, with a “best estimate” of $216 billion — nearly 10 times Syria’s 2024 gross domestic product of $21.4 billion.
In July, Damascus hosted its first Syrian-Saudi Investment Forum, producing more than 40 preliminary agreements worth about $6 billion across sectors including infrastructure, telecoms, tourism and health care.
That same month, Syria signed an $800 million agreement with Dubai Ports World to upgrade port infrastructure.
In August, it reached additional energy deals with Saudi Arabia, while a separate $7 billion energy project involving Turkish, Qatari and US firms promises to boost electricity supply.
Even so, sanctions relief alone, while “necessary,” is “far from sufficient,” said Vittorio Maresca di Serracapriola, lead sanctions expert at Karam Shaar Advisory
“For international capital to enter Syria at scale, deeper conditions must be met; meaningful banking sector reform, upgraded anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism standards, and above all, political and security stability,” he said.
Nevertheless, Ibrahim believes the repeal of the Caesar Act will allow Syria to “move to the next phase; reconstructing the country and ensuring there is no vacuum of authority or power.”
“It gives Syria a real opportunity,” he said. “The next step is strengthening the new leadership, deepening cooperation, attracting investment and restoring Syria as a normal member of the international community.”
Al-Sharaa echoed that message in his first post on X following the repeal, congratulating Syrians and thanking those who helped lift the sanctions.
“Through the will of the Syrians and the support of brothers and friends, a page of suffering has been turned, and a new phase of reconstruction has begun,” he said.
“Hand in hand, we move forward toward a future worthy of our people and our homeland.”
