13 Israeli Soldiers Hurt in Palestinian Vehicle Attack

JERUSALEM – Thirteen soldiers were hurt late Monday when a Palestinian plowed his car into their group at an intersection near Jerusalem's Old City, police and rescue services said.

Jerusalem police commander Ilan Franco said the driver was shot and killed by an army officer who was in the group. Franco said the driver was a Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem, apparently acting alone.

Israel TV reported that the car was registered to a resident of Jabel Mukaber, an Arab village inside the city limits of Jerusalem.

Ambulances and police units raced to the scene, and rescue services evacuated the wounded to Jerusalem hospitals. Police said 13 were wounded — two seriously and the others lightly. Doctors at the hospitals said all were conscious and were being treated.

Israel TV showed video of a wounded soldier on a stretcher, holding his head, as he was wheeled into an ambulance.

Israel Radio said the soldiers, from the Artillery Corps, were on a tour of Jerusalem ahead of the Jewish New Year holiday next week.

Police said the car was a BMW, and it plowed into the group of soldiers. The car ended up on the sidewalk near the intersection along the invisible line between the Jewish and Arab sections of Jerusalem, near the Old City. The vehicle had a yellow Israeli license plate.

Palestinians who live in Jerusalem get yellow Israeli plates for their cars, unlike Palestinians in the West Bank. About a third of Jerusalem's 700,000 residents are Palestinians.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

An Israel Radio reporter on the scene described a large group of Jews, most of them ultra-Orthodox, chasing an Arab into the Old City after the incident.

The incident took place just before 11 p.m. A rescue worker said the pedestrians were about to cross the street when the car hit them.

In July, Palestinians who lived in Jerusalem carried out two attacks using heavy construction machinery, killing three people and wounding several others. The attackers were shot and killed by police and soldiers.