20-May-15: Car-ramming attack again in Jerusalem

It's a beautiful, sunny morning here in Jerusalem. But there are reports of yet another deliberate car-ramming attack done by a Palestinian Arab for an evidently-terrorist motivation. This time, it has happened at the A-Tur junction on Jerusalem's north side, close to the Hebrew University’s Mount Scopus campus and the Mount of Olives. So far, we know of two Israelis, uniformed police, who are injured.

Times of Israel says the driver was shot by police and in critical condition and that he is being treated for his wounds at the scene. But both Haaretz and Ynet say, in updated reports, that he is dead. According to Ynet, immediately after running down his victims

he tried to "confirm the kill" by reversing back over the wounded officers. He was then shot by police... Bystanders hurtled stones at security forces as they arrived at the scene. There were also riots reported at the site. [Ynet]

The weapon in this morning's attempted killing in A-Tur,
Jerusalem [Image Source]

In an 11:30 am update, Ynet says the attacker is a 41-year-old male resident of Jabel Mukaber, a neighbourhood of Jerusalem (abutting Talpiot) whose population have permanent resident status, courtesy of Israeli law, and are entitled to hold blue Government of Israel identity cards which give them "wide freedom of movement within Israel, and... access to health care, unemployment and other benefits" [Wikepedia]. Worth noting that the SUV driven by the alleged, suspected militant attacker is considered expensive and prestigious in Israeli terms. Let each us make of that what we will. (Some might want to note that entering the search term "Jabel Mukaber" and clashes delivers 45,000 Google hits.)

The Haaretz report, providing some context and perspective, says

Jerusalem Police Chief Moshe Edri who arrived on the scene said that "the Border Patrol officers acted as was expected of them, neutralized the terrorist and prevented further harm to innocent people."

Our most recent previous report on a similar attack is just five days old: "15-May-15: Attempted murder by vehicle: yet another Palestinian Arab attack on pedestrians".

A couple of weeks before that, a similar vehicle-borne attacker struck at almost the same spot in Jerusalem's A-Tur. We wrote about here: "29-Apr-15: Almost entirely unreported, violent Arab attacks in and on Jerusalem". It's highly likely today's attack will get minor media coverage outside Israel, if any.