A tractor driven by a Palestinian man rammed into a bus in central Jerusalem early Monday afternoon, close to the “seam” between the western and eastern parts of the city.For his act of murder, that monster deserved to die. And sadly, it wasn't the only jihad attack today. There was another at Mount Scopus:
A male pedestrian approximately 30 years old was run over by the tractor as it headed toward the bus and was killed. The tractor driver, identified as East Jerusalem resident Muhammed Naif El-Ja’abis, turned the bus over onto its side during the attack, making several efforts to do so before he succeeded. The bus driver as well as five others were lightly hurt.
Police said the attack, which took place at the end of Shmuel Hanavi Street, near the Olive Tree Hotel, was nationalistically motivated.
A police officer and Prisons Service official who realized what was happening ran up to the tractor and fired a volley of shots at the terrorist as he sat in the cab and killed him, Jerusalem police chief Yossi Pariente said.
The tractor driver was identified by Palestinians on social media as Muhammed Naif El-Ja’abis from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber.
Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said the terrorist was known to the authorities from a previous incident, and that his family was being questioned.
Praising the actions of the police, he said, “The quick response saved lives.” Aharonovitch added that officials had considered the possibility that there could be an attack against the background of the ongoing Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. “We took that into account at the start of the operation down south,” he said.
Security officials told Channel 2 news that Ja’abis may have carried out the attack for revenge after his cousin’s home was demolished two weeks ago.
According to a report on Channel 2, an Israeli was shot in the stomach at the entrance to the Har Hatzofim (Mount Scopus) tunnel in Jerusalem.Exactly. From the latest updates, there's a manhunt going on for the motocyclist who committed this second vile act. I hope they catch him, along with any accomplice he may have had.
An eyewitness named Eti said that the victim is a soldier. "I saw him falling backward," she told reporter Moshe Nusbaum.
The wounded man is about 20, said the channel's reporters, and he is in moderate to serious condition and received treatment on the spot. He was then taken to the nearby Hadassah Har Hatzofim hospital.
Eyewitnesses said that he was shot by a man who then got on a motorcycle or scooter and then drove off toward the Arab neighborhood of Wadi Joz. There may have been another man on the scooter as well.
Police are conducting a manhunt assisted by helicopters.
While the background for the attack is not known, initial estimates are that it is nationalistically motivated.
Major General Yosi Parienti, Jerusalem District Police Commander, said that the shooter was dressed in black and that he fired several shots at the soldier from close range. The man then ran toward a Vespa type scooter and drove off. A security guard fired at the scooter but apparently missed it.
"There is a very high likelihood that this is a terror attack,” said Parienti. The soldier apparently has no criminal background and a criminal motivation appears unlikely.