Eleven wounded in vehicular attack in Jerusalem
Terrorist from East Jerusalem rams his car into people waiting at a bus stop near the Chords Bridge at the entrance to the capital; he was shot dead before he could leave his car; ax found in his vehicle.
Eleven people were wounded in a vehicular attack next to the the Chords Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem on Monday afternoon. The attacker was shot dead at the scene.
Eight people were taken to Sha'are Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, three of them in moderate condition, and six people in light condition, some suffering from shock.
Six were taken to Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem, five of them lightly hurt. A one and a half-year-old baby, who was moderately wounded and suffering an injury to his leg, was initially taken to Sha'are Zedek and later transferred to Hadassah in an effort to save his leg, where his condition deteriorated.
The attack happened shortly before 3pm local time. The attacker, 21-year-old Abdel Muhsan Hasuna from the neighborhood of Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem, arrived in a private vehicle to Herzl Boulevard and proceeded to drive into a bus stop, driving onto the sidewalk and hitting several people, as well as a fire hydrant.
A security guard and a member of the security forces saw what was happening and shot the attacker before he could get out of his car.
Jerusalem District Police Commander Maj.-Gen. Moshe Edri said that "Their quick and precise action that neutralized the terrorist prevented a bigger attack."
An ax was found in the terrorist's car.
An Israel Radio reporter said she had seen the car mount the pavement and strike people before shots rang out.
"I was about to turn left to Tel Aviv, suddenly a car went up onto a bus station, shots immediately opened up ... There are people in the station... A number of people simply lifted up the car, because there were people underneath it," Miri Krimolovsky told her station.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing the wave of attacks as "a new type of terror by individuals which challenges us and other countries," praised the quick response of people at the scene whose actions "prevented far more serious tragedies."
"We are acting constantly to fight this terror and I have no doubt that eventually we will overcome it," Netanyahu told a Likud party meeting moments after the attack.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas referred to the recent period as "a justified popular uprising."
"We cannot ask the youth why they are going out (to revolt)," Abbas said Monday. "They just despaired of the two-state solution."
In the West Bank, two Israelis were lightly wounded on Monday evening when large rocks were thrown at their car near the settlement of Beit Aryeh.
Kosta Poliakov, whose mother was wounded in the attack, said "a rock weighing 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) was thrown straight onto the windshield. The windshield shattered, and mom was wounded in her face."
Poliakov said the driver of a vehicle that was behind his mother's car pulled out his weapon and tried to fire at the stone-throwers, but was unsuccessful.
A poll published by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research indicated that 67 percent of respondents supported stabbing attacks against Israelis and that, if the attacks were increased, it "would serve Palestinian national interests in ways that negotiations could not."
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
