Palestinian driver killed after Jerusalem rampage

A Palestinian driver rammed a construction vehicle into a bus and police car on a highway Thursday, wounding two officers before he was shot dead, police said – the latest in a string of attacks by militants using heavy machinery against Israeli targets.

Witnesses described a yellow front loader speeding along Jerusalem’s Begin Highway, a main thoroughfare, dragging the police car, flipping it into the air and trying to plow it into the bus, which had no passengers.

Policeman Eldad Ben Nun and his partner had just pulled up to an intersection when the attack began.

“We stopped at a red light and saw in the opposing lane on the left a tractor ramming into a police car with two officers inside and overturning it,” Ben Nun told Channel 2 TV. “We stopped the car, I ran over to the tractor and pulled out my gun, fired a few bullets at him (the driver) until he slumped over.”

The driver sat up again, another officer shot him three more times with an M-16 assault rifle “and the incident was over,” Ben Nun said.

Two taxi drivers said they also opened fire.

“When I saw the bulldozer throw the squad car up and down in the air with an officer inside, I realized it was a terror attack,” said driver Uzi Mahatabi.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld identified the attacker as Mari al-Rdaidah, a 26-year-old from east Jerusalem. It wasn’t clear whether the man worked on his own or was affiliated with a militant group, Rosenfeld said.

“It is without a doubt a terror attack,” Jerusalem’s deputy police chief, Nisso Shachar, told reporters.

An open copy of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, was found inside the vehicle, Shachar added. The presence of the book could indicate the attacker was influenced by Islamic radicals, though many ordinary Muslims routinely carry the Quran.

Police said the two wounded officers were lightly hurt.

In the Gaza Strip, Hamas praised the attack. “We bless this operation today in Jerusalem,” said spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. “The Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves, and we emphasize we will defend our homeland.”

Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat, called for the demolition of the attacker’s home – a tactic that has drawn international criticism in the past. Barkat said home demolitions are needed to deter future attacks.

“It was simply an attack meant to murder innocent people,” he told Channel 2 TV.