RAMALLAH, Palestine

An Israeli soldier was moderately-to-seriously injured in the Israeli-occupied West Bank when a Palestinian man struck him in the head with a stone, the Israel army said Friday.

According to an official statement, the Palestinian crossed a fence into the Jewish-only Beit El settlement near the West Bank city of Ramallah and hurled a stone at the soldier from a short distance.

The Palestinian then allegedly fled the scene while the soldier was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, the statement added.

On Thursday, two Israelis were killed and two others injured in a drive-by shooting near Ramallah in apparent retaliation for the earlier killing of three Palestinians.

The Israeli military has since designated Ramallah a “closed military area”, preventing anyone from entering or exiting the city.