Israel: 5 Injured In Car Ramming Attack Near Jerusalem Market

In the latest attack in Israel, five people were on Monday injured in a car ramming attack in Jerusalem. One man is in serious condition.

The Palestinian driver was shot and killed. He was identified as 39-year-old Hatem Najma of Beit Safafa neighborhood, reported The Times of Israel.

This is the second car ramming attack in Israel in two months. In February, two were killed and five were injured in a Palestinian car attack in Jerusalem.

The car attack on Monday came hours after a Palestinian man was killed in West Bank. Jericho Governor Jihad Abu al-Asal told Palestinian media that was fatally shot by Israeli forces in the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, which has repeatedly been the scene of fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinians. 

The violence came as Israel was set to mark its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of militant attacks, beginning at sundown Monday, followed by its 75th Independence Day the following evening. 

What we know of the attack?

The driver of the car ran the vehicle over pedestrians on Agripas Street near the bustling, open-air Mahane Yehuda market.

The Israel Police said one person was injured seriously and the others suffered mild to moderate injuries. 

The police also said the attacker was shot and neutralised by a citizen on the scene.

The Magen David Adom medical service said five injured people were transferred from the scene of the car ramming to a hospital and that a 70-year-old man was in serious condition. 

Car ramming attacks used by Hamas

This is the second car ramming attack in Israel in two months. In February, two were killed and five were injured in a Palestinian car attack in Jerusalem.

Car attacks are an established medium of attacks and have been used by ISIS and Al Qaeda. Palestinian terrorist group Hamas is known to have used such attacks. Hamas is the largest Palestinian terrorist group and controls the Gaza Strip.

Think tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP) says the 2016 Nice attack launched a wave of vehicular terrorist attacks around the world. It also says that Hamas is among the terrorist groups engaging in vehicular terrorist attacks. 

The CEP says, "Terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Hamas have long called for—and claimed responsibility for—vehicular terrorist attacks...Following the wave of vehicular terrorist attacks in 2016 and 2017, ISIS has continued to issue calls to violence and warnings of additional car-ramming attacks."

The CEP notes that Israel has particularly faced the brunt of car attacks. 

The CEP says, "A slew of car-ramming attacks have also been carried out by Palestinian assailants in Israel and the West Bank. In November of 2014, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups—including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)—praised a wave of vehicular attacks and called for more. One such image posted online read, 'Run [them] over, son of Hebron...and son of Jerusalem. Take your car...and run over the Zionists'."

Both Hamas and PIJ are committed to the establishment of a singular Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel. 

Increased Israeli-Palestinian violence

Violence between Israel and the Palestinians has spiked over the last year, after a bout of Palestinian attacks prompted Israel to launch near-nightly arrest raids into West Bank cities, villages, and towns. 

Israel says its raids are essential to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks, but violence has shown no sign of abating. The Palestinians say the raids entrench Israel's 56-year, open-ended occupation of lands they seek for a future independent state.

Bloodshed has only intensified since the start of this year. So far this year, 95 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank, according to a tally by The Associated Press, at least half of them affiliated with militant groups. During that time, 19 people were killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

Tensions have been particularly high over the last month, as Muslims marked the holy month of Ramadan, which this year coincided with the Jewish holiday of Passover. Earlier this month, an Israeli police raid on Muslim worshippers at a sensitive Jerusalem holy site sparked off fresh tensions. Around the same time, rockets were fired into Israel from Lebanon, Gaza, and Syria, raising tensions to a scale not seen in a very long time. 

Also earlier this month, Palestinian terrorists killed three British-Israeli women —a mother and two of her daughters— as they were driving in their car in the West Bank. In a separate incident, an Italian tourist was killed and five others were wounded when a Palestinian-Israeli's car careened onto a bike path near the beach in Tel Aviv in what authorities described as a suspected attack. 

(With AP inputs)