The terrorist drove his vehicle into pedestrians near Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market.
By JNS
Five Israelis were wounded on Monday afternoon when a terrorist drove his vehicle into a crowd near the busy Machane Yehuda market in Jerusalem.
Magen David Adom emergency medical personnel treated an unconscious man in his 60s with critical injuries and a woman in her 30s who was moderately wounded. The other victims, a man in his 50s and two men in their 20s, were lightly injured.
Police said that the terrorist had been “neutralized” and that dozens of officers were at the scene.
The perpetrator was identified as 39-year-old Hatem Nejima, an Arab Israeli resident of Beit Safafa in eastern Jerusalem. He was reportedly shot and killed at the scene.
Authorities opened an investigation into the attack.
“A few minutes ago, not far from here, another attempt was made to murder Israeli citizens. This attack, in this place, at this moment, reminds us that the Land of Israel and the State of Israel are bought with great suffering,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“These terrorist attacks come with the expectation that they will overcome us and uproot us from here, and if they could, they would murder us all. But they will not overcome us; we will overcome them. We have established an exemplary state with an exemplary army and police—at a heart-rending price,” he added.
The premier was addressing a memorial ceremony for Israel’s fallen soldiers at Yad Labanim in the capital.
Israel will mark this year’s Memorial Day beginning Monday night, when a one-minute siren will sound across the country.
לפני זמן קצר התקבל דיווח על נהג רכב שפגע בעוברי אורח ברחוב אגריפס בירושלים. כתוצאה מהאירוע ישנם מספר פצועים. החשוד נוטרל וכוחות משטרה גדולים הוזעקו למקום. פרטים נוספים ימסרו בהמשך
— משטרת ישראל (@IL_police) April 24, 2023
On April 7, an Italian tourist was killed and seven other foreigners were wounded in a car-ramming attack in central Tel Aviv.
The terrorist, identified as Arab Israeli Yousef Abu Jaber, 45, from Kafr Qasim, 12 miles east of Tel Aviv, drove his vehicle into a crowd on a busy seaside promenade in the heart of the city.
The fatality was identified as 35-year-old Alessandro Parini from Rome.
The attack came hours after Israeli sisters Maia Dee, 20, and Rina, 15, were killed and their mother, Lucy Dee, 48, was mortally wounded in a Palestinian shooting attack in the Jordan Valley.
The family’s father, Rabbi Leo Dee, will recite the Yizkor memorial prayer at Israel’s main ceremony on Tuesday night marking the start of the state’s 75th Independence Day.