At least four young IDF soldiers were killed and 15 others injured when an Arab-Israeli terrorist rammed a truck into a group walking on Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv promenade on Sunday, turning the picturesque attraction overlooking the Old City into a scene of terror and devastation.
The group, largely made up of soldiers, was exiting a bus at the promenade when the driver of a flatbed truck aimed his vehicle at them, accelerating as he went, police said.
CAUTION: Video shows moment of attack and may disturb some readers.
Footage of #Jerusalem truck ramming incident. 4 dead, many injured #ArmonHanatziv pic.twitter.com/dq8bhZzmXd
— Shai Ben-ari (@ShaiBenari) January 8, 2017
According to the driver of the bus which had let the victims off moments before the attack, the truck driver “drove into the group of [people], ran over them and kept going. [They] shot at the driver. He reversed and ran over them again.”
The terrorist, reported to be an Israeli Arab from East Jerusalem, was killed on the scene, shot down through the windshield of his vehicle. When paramedics arrived, they found over a dozen troops injured, several seriously; some were trapped beneath the truck.
Palestinian terrorist rams innocent civilians in his truck in Jerusalem terror attack. Terrorist shot.
Pray for the wounded. pic.twitter.com/rAFF1q4b92— United With Israel (@UniteWithIsrael) January 8, 2017
Three women and one man, all soldiers in their early 20s, were among those murdered.
Over a dozen wounded were sent to area hospitals, including a seriously injured woman in unstable condition. Four others were moderately wounded and another 10 victims were in light condition.
The outing to the Haas Promenade, organized by the IDF, was part of the army’s “Culture Sundays” program, which exposes soldiers to sites of historical and national importance throughout the country. The popular tourist site, located in the southern part of the city, offers a stunning panoramic view of Jerusalem and the Old City.
In May, the promenade was the scene of a stabbing terror attack in which two elderly women were attacked and moderately wounded.
The style of the attack closely echoes the recent truck-ramming in Berlin which claimed twelve lives last month. An Israeli man was seriously injured and his wife killed when a terrorist driving a large truck plowed into a Christmas market full of shoppers.
Sunday’s incident marks the most fatal terror attack against Israelis since June, when two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on Tel Aviv’s Sarona market, murdering four and wounding 17.
