BICOM

One man was killed and another seriously wounded in two separate terrorist attacks in Jerusalem yesterday afternoon.

In the first incident, a Palestinian digger-driver drove into a number of pedestrians, killing Avraham Walz, 26, and injuring six others. The driver, Muhammed Naif el-Jaabis, then rammed into a bus before being shot and killed by a passing prison officer.

In the second incident, a solider was shot in the stomach by an unknown assailant on a moped. The gunman escaped and the soldier remains in hospital in serious condition. The police are searching for the assailant.

The digger attack recalls similar incidents in the past. In 2008, a bulldozer-driver went on a rampage in Jerusalem, killing three people. That incident sparked a rash of copycat attacks on pedestrians using both heavy machinery and normal cars.

Israel’s Channel 2 News reports that yesterday’s attacker had previously condemned attacks of that nature. Speaking in 2009, he said: “We are against these attacks. These tractors are our livelihoods; they are the way we put food on the table for our children … We want the public to know that not every tractor worker is a terrorist.”

The two attacks have added to a tense atmosphere in Jerusalem. Rioters on the Temple Mount threw Molotov cocktails and stones at police this morning. The city has seen occasional incidents of unrest since the murder of teenager Mohammed Abu-Kdeir.