A Palestinian man rammed a minivan into a crowded train platform in east Jerusalem on Wednesday and then attacked people with an iron bar after leaving the vehicle, killing one person and injuring 13 in what authorities called a terror attack before he was shot dead by police.
The militant Hamas group took responsibility for the attack, the second such assault in east Jerusalem in the past two weeks. Neighbouring Jordan called back the kingdom’s ambassador to Israel for consultations in a gesture of protest over the violence in east Jerusalem.
Police said the motorist slammed his car a white minivan into the train platform in east Jerusalem first, backed out and proceeded to drive away, hitting several cars along the way. He then got out of the car and attacked a group of civilians and police officers on the side of the road with a metal bar before he was shot and killed. Security camera footage appeared to show him darting about a crowded intersection before he was shot.
Israeli police said “one person was killed and about a dozen people were injured in the terror attack.”
Police identified the attacker as Ibrahim al-Akri, a 38-year-old Palestinian, and said he had recently been released from prison after serving time for security offences.
Israel’s Minister of Public Security Yitzhak Ahronovich said civilians and police officers were among the victims. He praised the police officer, who killed al-Akri, saying that “a terrorist who attacks civilians deserves to be killed.”
The attack was almost identical to one two weeks ago, also committed by a Palestinian from east Jerusalem, who rammed his car into a crowded train station, killing a 3-month-old Israeli-American girl and a woman from Ecuador not far from the scene of Wednesday’s attack.
