Palestinian Terror Wave Hits Jerusalem with Car-Ramming and Shooting

A car-ramming injured 14 IDF soldiers and a separate shooting incident wounded several other Israelis on Thursday.

By JNS and TPS

At least 14 soldiers were wounded, one critically, in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem early Thursday morning, according to police and medical services.

The attack, a vehicular assault, occurred at 2 a.m. at Jerusalem’s First Station and is being investigated as a terror attack, according to police.

A manhunt is underway for the driver of the vehicle, who fled the scene.

The wounded troops belonged to the Israel Defense Forces’ Golani Brigade, according to an IDF spokesperson, and had been visiting the First Station, a historic Jerusalem site, as part of a “heritage tour” ahead of their early-morning swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall.

According to a Magen David Adom spokesperson, paramedics treated the victims at the scene and evacuated them to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem and Shaare Zedek hospitals, including an unconscious 20-year-old man in serious condition with multiple injuries.

According to a United Hatzalah spokesperson, the emergency response organization’s Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit was also dispatched to the scene, where they treated eight people suffering from emotional and psychological shock.

Upon hearing of the attack, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said on Thursday morning, “We are praying for the recovery of the injured soldiers being treated in hospital today. I am confident the forces pursuing the perpetrator will find him soon and bring him to justice. We will not allow despicable terrorism to raise its head and will fight it without compromise.”

Temple Mount Attack

Later on Thursday, an Arab terrorist shot and lightly injured a police officer in an attack at the entrance to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Policemen at the site shot and killed the terrorist.

Emergency medical services stated that they treated a man in his early 20s for light injuries to his shoulder.

MDA paramedic Israel Weingarten said then when they arrived at the scene they found the victim walking and fully conscious after suffering an injury to his arm.

“We put him in an intensive care unit, gave him medical treatment that included bandaging and painkillers, and took him in light and stable condition for continued treatment in the hospital,” he recounted.

The police shut down the Old City area, and specifically the Temple Mount, after unrest began at the holy site.

The attack occurred just hours after the car-ramming attack.

Tensions in Israel have been high in recent days following the publication of the White House’s “Deal of the Century” peace plan, to which the Palestinian Authority reacted with violent opposition.

Member of Knesset Orna Barbevai, a former IDF general, stated after the vehicular attack that the Palestinian Authority is “again mistaken in legitimizing the rising violence with the thought that intentionally setting fire in the streets against Israel will help it.”

She called on PA head Mahmoud Abbas to “take responsibility and reconsider his actions.”

The incident comes amid increased tensions between Israel and Palestinians following U.S. President Donald Trump’s roll-out of his Middle East peace plan last week.