JERUSALEM: A Palestinian men rammed a truck into a group of Israeli soldiers visiting a popular tourist spot in Jerusalem on Sunday, killing four people and injuring at least 15 others.
The driver was also killed at the location overlooking holy sites in the Old City.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged that the attacker “supported” the militant Islamic State (IS) group, but provided no details on what had led to the finding.
Chaos broke out at the scene when the truck ploughed through the crowd, with hundreds of soldiers having arrived there as part of a tour for troops about the history of Jerusalem.
“A lone terrorist drove his truck into a group of soldiers standing on the side of the road,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told reporters at the scene. “They got off the bus, and as they were getting off the bus and getting organised, he took advantage.”
Israel’s military said one of its soldiers fired on the attacker and distributed video of him saying that he had acted after realising that it was not an accident.
Bullet holes could be seen in the windshield of the truck.
Police only confirmed that four people were dead, but a medic at the scene said they were soldiers.
Medics also reported that three of the victims were women, while all four were in their 20s.
Video, said to be of the incident, being shared online shows a flatbed truck with a crane in the rear drive through the group of soldiers standing next to a bus.
The driver then pulls off to the side and tries to reverse towards where the soldiers were hit, before the truck eventually stops.
“We know the identity of the assailant, who according to all indications supported IS,” the prime minister said, according to a statement from his office.
Fawzi Barhum, a spokesman for the Hamas movement which runs the Gaza Strip, saluted the attack, calling it “heroic and brave”.
Palestinian security officials in Ramallah said the driver was a Palestinian in his late 20s from the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Jabal Mukaber, located close to the scene.
Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2017
