East Jerusalem Palestinian crashes car into crowd of soldiers, 19 injuries reported

Date: 23 / 09 / 2008  Time:  00:47
Jerusalem - Ma'an -

Palestinian Qassem Salah Al-Mughrabi was the driver of a black compact that drove into a group of Israeli soldiers visiting Jerusalem.

The 19-year-old from the Al-Farouq area on Mount Scopus was shot and killed by an Israeli lieutenant on the scene, according to local sources.

Israeli medical sources say 19 Israelis were injured, ten of which are in serious condition, nine sustained moderate wounds, and at least eight of the injured are Israeli soldiers.

Al-Mughrabi's car veered off the road and hit the group near the Jaffa Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem on Monday night.

In a phone call to Ma'an, a group calling itself "Nisour Al-Jalil" claimed responsibility for the attack.

The incident follows two similar attacks where bulldozers from Jerusalem construction sites were driven into traffic this summer, causing tens of injuries and two deaths.

***Updated 10:50 am Bethlehem time

Nineteen Israelis, mainly soldiers, wounded in a Palestinian attack in Jerusalem

Tuesday September 23, 2008 01:24 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Israeli sources reported on Monday night that 19 Israelis, most of them soldiers, were wounded when a Palestinian from East Jerusalem plowed his vehicle into a group of soldiers at a busy intersection in the city late on Monday at night.

At least two of the wounded are in serious condition and the driver who carried out the attack was shot dead by one of the soldiers.

The assailant was driving a BMW with Israeli license plates. The attack was carried out at approximately 11pm.

Initial reports reveal that the assailant was in his twenties and that police and sappers arrived at the scene to examine it for explosives. The attacker is from Jabal Al Mokabbir in East Jerusalem, but his name has not yet been released for publication.

Medics arrived at the scene and evacuated the wounded to hospitals in Jerusalem. Medical sources described injury to the soldiers as mild-to-moderate, except to two who are in serious condition.

This is the third attack of its kind in Jerusalem in the last three months. The first was carried out in early July when three Israelis were killed and seventy wounded. The attack was carried out by bulldozer driver Ala’ Abu Dheim, a Palestinian in his twenties, from Jabal Al Mokabbir, in East Jerusalem.

The second attack was carried out in King David Street, wounding 24 Israelis. The attacker, Ghassam Abu Teir, was from Um Tuba village in East Jerusalem.

The Israeli online daily Haaretz reported that most of the wounded in Monday’s attack were soldiers on their way to the Western Wall to mark the upcoming new Jewish year.

 Jerusalem District Police Commander, Aharon Franco said that the driver was shot and killed by an officer who was among the targeted crowd of troops.

Franco added that it appears that the attacker was not acting alone, and that the police did not receive specific warnings regarding intentions to carry out an attack in Jerusalem.

He also said that the police are looking into whether the attacker had any accomplices.

 Jerusalem Police spokesperson, Micky Rosenfeld, said that the police confirmed that the incident “was a terror attack” and that the attacker was shot dead.

According to Israeli TV, the attacker is also from Jabal Al Mokabbir, and that a previously unknown group claimed responsibly for the attack.

 Following the attack, several ultra-orthodox Jews chased Arab residents in the Old City of Jerusalem.  

Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, issued a statement demanding to rush the procedures, which would result in the demolition of the homes of the family's attackers in East Jerusalem.