Route 443 checkpoint ramming: Israeli ambassador’s son critically injured, Palestinian driver killed

A Palestinian driver struck an Israeli reserve soldier near the Maccabim, also known as Beit Ur, checkpoint on Route 443 in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, September 23, 2026. The soldier was critically injured, and Israeli forces shot the driver dead. Israeli authorities described the collision as an intentional attack; that characterization is their account of the incident. 1057

How the incident unfolded

Israeli police said the driver accelerated toward a police officer and a soldier conducting vehicle checks near the Beit Horon settlement, west of Ramallah. The vehicle struck the soldier, and forces at the scene shot and killed the driver. Accounts differ in their descriptions of the patrol and precisely where the soldier was standing. 1098

Who was injured, and what did his father say?

The injured reservist was identified as Neria, also spelled Neriya, Leiter, son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter. He suffered a severe head injury and was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. A subsequent report said he remained in danger after brain surgery. 9193

Ambassador Leiter said medical staff were fighting to save his son and that Neria needed “a miracle.” Reports said the ambassador was returning to Israel. The family had previously lost another son, Moshe, who was killed in Gaza in November 2023. 18203

Who was the driver, and was his home raided?

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the driver as Mahmoud Mohammed Mahmoud Suleiman, 29, from the Ramallah area, and said he was killed by Israeli fire. An Israeli report said troops subsequently raided a home in a nearby village. A social-media account described it as Suleiman’s family home, but the available reporting does not independently establish whose home was raided or what happened inside. 57316

How does this fit into wider West Bank violence?

The incident came three days after a suspected Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli man in the West Bank; Israeli soldiers also killed a Palestinian motorist that day whom the military said had tried to run them over. Those incidents are separate, and the cited reporting does not establish a connection between them. 28

Death tolls need dates attached. A UN humanitarian update published in October 2025 counted 999 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers and 41 Israelis killed by Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, 2023. Those are not September 2026 totals. A September 8, 2026, report citing an AFP tally put the Palestinian figure at at least 1,108; the provided reporting does not establish a comparably updated Israeli total. 1529