Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement declared that a man killed Friday while trying to attack Israeli troops is “a heroic martyr.”

The attacker, named as 20-year-old Raed Hamed, drove his car at soldiers during riots in the village of Silwad, near Ramallah. The troops opened fire on Hamed and killed him. His body was later returned to the PA.

“During a violent riot in Silwad, northeast of Ramallah, an assailant attempted to ram his vehicle into soldiers,” the army said in a statement Friday. “The soldiers responded to the immediate threat and fired towards the assailant, resulting in his death.”

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

According to Israel Radio, former PA minister and senior Fatah member Fares Kadouri participated in a farewell ceremony at a West Bank hospital after Hamed’s body was returned. His funeral apparently took place on Saturday morning in Silwad, where he lived.

Shortly before setting out to carry out the attack, Hamed wrote a message to his parents on his Facebook page, the radio said, adding that Hamad’s brother was jailed in Israel for 10 years.

The attempted attack came hours after two Border Police officers and a bystander were injured in a stabbing at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate on Friday morning.

Since October 1, Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks have taken the lives of at least 27 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean. At the same time, 175 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, most while carrying out attacks, but some during violent clashes and demonstrations.