BICOM

Four Israelis were wounded yesterday when a Palestinian man rammed a car into passengers waiting at a bus stop in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank.

The incident happened at around 1.30pm when a black car drove into pedestrians waiting for a bus at the Alon Shvut junction. Two victims, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old were taken to a Jerusalem hospital with moderate injuries while two others sustained lighter wounds. The driver was stopped by Israeli soldiers at a nearby checkpoint about an hour later and taken for questioning.

The Shin Bet security agency announced that the attacker, a 22-year-old Palestinian man, Muhammed Arfaaya from Hebron, confessed to carrying out the attack due to nationalistic motivations. He had apparently been released from prison a year ago, having served a sentence for throwing stones and carrying a weapon. The Shin Bet said they were also investigating whether Arfaaya had been influenced by “incitement on social networking.”

The deputy head of the Etzion regional council Moshe Savil told Ynet news that Arfaaya had “crossed the highway and with great force struck a group of students who were waiting for the bus.” He added, “I call on the army and security forces to return security to the settlement bloc, to increase security.” Savil also noted, “This is a hard day for the Etzion settlement bloc. This junction has experienced many tough incidents.” Last November at the same spot, a Palestinian ran over 26-year-old Dalia Lemkus, before exiting the car and stabbing her to death. It is also near the spot from where three Jewish-Israeli teenage boys were kidnapped last summer, sparking a massive search which gripped the country.

Yesterday’s incident is the latest in a series of Palestinian vehicle attacks. Last month, a man ploughed his car into a Jerusalem bus stop, killing a male commuter and seriously wounding another. Similar vehicle attacks in the city during the last few months have claimed the lives of three others.