A car-ramming targeting Israeli troops in Jerusalem hurt 12 soldiers yesterday in an attack that Palestinian group Hamas hailed as a response to Washington’s Middle East peace plan.
A hunt was under way for the driver, who fled the scene outside a popular Jerusalem entertainment spot.
The attack occurred shortly before 2am outside the First Station, a historic Ottoman-era railway terminus that has been turned into a cultural and entertainment center with bars and restaurants.
The attacker struck in the street outside where the soldiers had been marching, the army said.
One of then soldiers was “severely injured” and has been evacuated to hospital, it said.
Public radio said they were new recruits on their way to an induction ceremony at Jerusalem’s Western Wall.
“During the incident, a terrorist sped his car towards [Israeli] soldiers,” the army said.
Israeli troops “are currently pursuing the terrorist, who escaped the scene,” it said.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said “the incident is being investigated as a terror attack.”
There have been rammings targeting Israeli troops in the past, in the occupied West Bank as well as Jerusalem.
The Hamas movement, which controls Gaza, hailed the ramming as a “practical response” to US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan.
In a statement, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the attack was part of the “resistance operation,” but did not claim responsibility.
It came amid heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians after the release last month of Trump’s proposals.
Hamas rejected the plan.
There have been sporadic clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops since the release of Trump’s proposals.
In the northern West Bank town of Jenin, Israeli forces shot dead 19-year-old Yazan Abu Tabikh, in an incident that left seven others wounded.
The army said troops had “identified a number of armed terrorists who hurled explosive devices and fired towards them. The forces responded with riot-dispersal means.”
On Wednesday, a 17-year-old was shot dead by Israeli forces during a protest in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron.
Israeli military described the teenager as a “violent rioter” armed with a Molotov cocktail who posed a threat to troops.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli aircraft struck Hamas positions early yesterday after Palestinians fired rockets or mortar rounds at Israel and launched incendiary balloons.
“Fighter jets and [other] aircraft targeted Hamas terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip,” an army statement said.
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