Description

Photos:
Scene of car ramming attack on Dec. 14, 2015: Published in Maan

Scene of Jerusalem car-ramming attack that left 11 wounded, including a baby, near the Chords Bridge. December 14, 2015. Credit: Hatzala Rescue Services. Published in Haaretz
___

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian was shot and killed, and 11 people were wounded in a car ramming attack at an entrance of Jerusalem on Monday, Israel's army and media said.

Mickey Rosenfeld initially said eight people were injured when a "terrorist ran into a bus stop," adding that the Palestinian attacker was shot and critically injured during the attack, however later an Israeli army spokesperson said 11 had been injured.

Israeli media later reported that the Palestinian had succumbed to his wounds, identifying him as Abdel-Muhsen Hassuneh, 21, from occupied East Jerusalem's Beit Hanina neighborhood.

Of the eight ramming victims confirmed by Rosenfeld, one was in moderate condition and seven were lightly wounded. All are being treated at a hospital in Jerusalem. The condition of the other three reportedly injured is unknown.

On Sunday, Israeli forces shot and seriously injured a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron after an alleged stabbing attempt, locals and the Israeli army said at the time.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that “a Palestinian armed with knife attempted to stab a pedestrian in Hebron, when forces on site responded to the threat and shot the assailant.”

Local sources in Hebron identified the teenage girl as 16-year-old Lama Munthir Hafith al-Bakri.

The alleged attacks are the latest to take place in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, where an escalation of violence that kicked off in October has continued full-fledged into December.
The recent violence has left at least 119 Palestinians killed by Israeli military and settlers and 19 Israelis killed in attacks carried out by Palestinian individuals.

The circumstances of several deaths since Oct. 1 have been widely disputed by critics who say that Israel has implemented a "shoot-to-kill" policy against Palestinians.

The Executive Director of Israeli rights group B'Tselem, Hagai El-Ad, said last week that the policy is being used against Palestinians who have already been “neutralized" during attacks.

El-Ad said in a statement that Israeli soldiers and police officers effectively became “judge, jury and executioner” after the policy was encouraged by senior Israeli politicians and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

PLO Central Council member Muhammad Eshteyyah in a press conference last week said that 85 percent of Palestinian deaths to take place since Oct. 1 could have been prevented if the “shoot-to-kill” policy was not implemented.
_____

by Yair Ettinger for Haaretz

Fourteen people, including a baby and an elderly woman, were wounded Monday afternoon after a Palestinian rammed his car into a bus stop at the entrance to Jerusalem, not far from the city's Chords Bridge.
The Jerusalem Police said that security forces personnel, a security guard and an Israeli who were at the scene shot the suspected assailant - identified as Abed Almohsin Hassoneh, 21, from East Jerusalem's Beit Hanina neighborhood - while he was still in his car. Police also said they found an axe in the attacker's Mazda.

Initial reports said 12 of the 14 wounded suffered light wounds, while the woman and the 1.5-year-old boy were in moderate condition, with injuries to their limbs. The baby's medical condition later deteriorated and is now condered serious, the hospital said, adding he was unconscious and on respiratory support.
Masha Eichel, a paramedic who was on the scene as the incident took place, said "we were standing on the other side of the street when I heard gunfire and immediately rushed across… I saw a car on the sidewalk right next to the bus stop [where] a number of people were lying on the ground bleeding."

On Sunday, a Palestinian woman attempted to stab a settler in the Givat Avot neighborhood of Hebron, but was shot and critically wounded by Israeli troops. No other casualties were reported. The Palestinian woman was rushed for to a Jerusalem hospital.

Earlier Sunday, a Palestinian man was indicted for a stabbing attack that killed two Israelis in southern Tel Aviv last month. This is a breaking new story, details to follow