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Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Lieberman visit the scene of the truck-ramming in Jerusalem, January 8, 2017. Credit: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS Published by Haaretz

Israeli security and rescue forces work at the scene of a truck ramming incident in Jerusalem January 8, 2017. Credit: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS Published by Haaretz

The scene of the truck-ramming attack in Jerusalem, January 8, 2017. Credit: Emil Salman Published by Haaretz
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces after driving a truck into a group of uniformed Israeli soldiers, killing four soldiers and injuring at least 13 other people Saturday afternoon, at a bus stop in the illegal Israeli settlement of East Talpiyyot in occupied East Jerusalem.

An Israeli police spokesperson confirmed in a statement that the "terrorist" was shot and killed after carrying out what she called a deliberate attack.

Sources identified the slain driver as 28-year-old Fadi Ahmad Hamdan al-Qunbar from the nearby East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabbir.

Israel's emergency medical service Magen David Adom (MDA) said that the slain Israeli soldiers were in their 20s. According to Israeli media, three were women and the fourth was a man.

MDA added that 13 others were wounded -- three severely, one moderately to severely, and nine lightly. They were all evacuated to Israel's Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem. It remained unconfirmed if any civilians were among the injured.

Israeli police said a truck with Israeli license plates veered from its course and rammed into people getting off of a bus -- later revealed to be a group of uniformed Israeli soldiers -- at a promenade in the settlement, which overlooks the Old City of East Jerusalem. A number of people were initially trapped under the truck, and three of the wounded had to be extracted from under the track using a crane.

Israeli police reported imposing heightened security measures in the Jerusalem area, and that investigations were ongoing. Israeli police chief Roni Alsheich told reporters that there was no advance warning for the attack.

Israeli police later announced a gag-order for Israeli media on all further details of the case, including the identities of suspects.

The illegal East Talpiyyot settlement is also known as Armon Hanatziv, and is located just west of Jabal al-Mukabbir.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov condemned the attack, saying it was “reprehensible that some choose to glorify such acts which undermine the possibility of a peaceful future for both Palestinians and Israelis. There is nothing heroic in such actions.

“I urge all to condemn violence and incitement, maintain calm and to do everything they can to avoid further escalation,” Mladenov added.

Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat reacted to the attack, with The Jerusalem Post quoting him as saying that “there is no limit to the cruelty of the terrorists who are willing to use any means possible to murder Jews and to damage the daily life of Israel's capital" -- in reference to the controversial Israeli claim to Jerusalem as its undivided capital.

"Those who incite and fan the flames and those who support terror must pay a heavy price," Barkat added.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the slain Palestinian attacker was “by all indications a supporter of the Islamic State,” without specifying the evidence leading to this assessment.

Meanwhile, the Hamas movement released a statement in Arabic on social media, in which it hailed the "heroic and brave truck attack in Jerusalem which comes as natural reaction to the Israeli occupation's crimes."

Since a wave of unrest began in October 2015-- largely marked by small-scale attacks by Palestinians targeting uniformed Israeli soldiers and police with knives or similar weapons -- a number of deliberate car ramming attacks have occurred. However, Israeli authorities' version of events have been challenged in a number of incidents, with officials in some cases later admitting so-called "terror attacks" were actually traffic accidents.

However, Israeli news site Ynet quoted a witness as saying that after the truck rammed into the group of soldiers, Israeli forces fired at the driver who then reversed the truck and ran over the soldiers again. A video later released on Israeli media
purported to show the moment the truck rammed into the soldiers.

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Jerusalem Attack: 4 Soldiers Killed After Truck Rams Into Pedestrians
Netanyahu says all signs point to assailant, a resident of East Jerusalem who was shot and killed, being an ISIS supporter; U.S. strongly condemns attack.

by Nir Hasson, Gili Cohen , Ido Efrati and Barak Ravid for Haaretz
Jan 08, 2017 8:33 PM

UPDATE: Following attack, Israel seeks detention without trial of ISIS supporters >>
Four soldiers were killed and 13 people were wounded in Jerusalem on Sunday when a truck rammed into pedestrians near the Armon Hanatziv Promenade.

The soldiers targeted by the assailant were on an educational trip along with several other groups. According to the police, the truck veered from its course along the promenade and rammed into a group of soldiers getting off a bus.

Among those who responded and shot at the attacker was a man identified as Eitan, a counselor for one group of cadets who were on the promenade. Speaking to Army Radio, he said that it took him just a fraction of a second to respond.

There were military cadets in the area with M-16 rifles, he said, but it took them half a minute to a minute for them to begin opening fire. "The fact that there was dawdling on the part of dozens of soldiers with weapons, I don't want to explicitly use the words Elor Azaria, but I have no doubt that it had an impact."

The four victims have been identified as 20-year-old Yael Yekutiel from Givataiym, 22-year-old Shir Hajaj from Ma’ale Adumim, 20-year-old Shira Tzur from Haifa and 20-year-old Erez Orbach from Alon Shvut. Hajaj was a commander in the Israel Defense Forces officer's course, while the others were cadets in the same course.

Among the wounded, three are in serious condition, one is in moderate to serious condition and nine are lightly hurt.

Leah Schreiber, one of the instructors who witnessed the attack, described the incident: "We got on the bus at the International Convention Center, and this was our first stop. A few minutes after we arrived, while I was talking about the Jerusalem landscape, I heard screaming behind me. I turned around a saw the truck getting on the sidewalk.
"Soldiers who were in the area started shooting at the truck. At first they couldn't kill him. He put the truck in reverse. At this point the youths screamed and the instructors told them to hide behind the stone walls. After the assailant was incapacitated, paramedics arrived."

Netanyahu: All signs point to attacker being ISIS supporter

Police chief Roni Alsheich described the truck-ramming as a terror attack. The assailant, a resident of East Jerusalem, was shot and killed, the police chief said, adding that there was no advance warning for the attack.

Speaking at the scene of the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We know the identity of the attacker.  All signs point to the attacker being a supporter of the Islamic State."

Referring to similar vehicle ramming attacks in Europe, in Nice in July and in Germany last month, Netanyahu said there may be a link between them and Sunday's attack, "from France and Berlin and now Jerusalem."

The prime minister said a number of steps were being taken that he would not specify in detail "to ensure that such incidents are not repeated."

"You don't need more than two to three seconds to find a terrorist target," the police commissioner said. "The soldiers at the scene reacted immediately and killed the attacker."

But in an oblique reference to the case of Elor Azaria, the soldier who last week was convicted of manslaughter for killing a wounded assailant in Hebron in March, Eitan added: "It would have been a lot easier if I didn't know that it was possible that some day they would indict me for such things."

The security cabinet convened in the late afternoon for a meeting focused with the attack, among other issues.

The U.S. State Department issued a statement strongly condemning the truck-ramming. "There is absolutely no justification for these brutal and senseless attacks. We‎ condemn the glorification of terrorism now or at any time and call on all to send a clear message that terrorism must never be tolerated," said a State Department spokesman.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat called on residents of the capital to show vigilance but continue life as usual.
 
"Unfortunately there is no limit to the cruelty of the terrorists who stop at nothing to murder Jews and disrupt life in Israel's capital," he said, urging residents to "not let terrorism win."