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Four soldiers killed in Jerusalem truck attack
Four Israeli soldiers were killed yesterday at a popular Jerusalem promenade after a man from a nearby Arab neighbourhood ploughed a truck into them.
The non-combat soldiers, three cadets and one commander on the IDF’s officers’ training course, were on an educational trip at the promenade in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighbourhood, a look out point offering scenic views of the city when a truck suddenly veered off course and drove into the group of soldiers exiting a tour bus. Soldiers and a civilian tour guide opened fire, although the assailant was able to reverse and further injure the wounded before he was killed.
The four soldiers killed were named as 20-year-old Yael Yekutiel from Givataiym, 22-year-old Shir Hajaj from Ma’aleh Adumim, 20-year-old Shira Tzur from Haifa and 20-year-old Erez Orbach from Alon Shvut. Thirteen additional soldiers were injured in the attack, three considered to be in serious condition.
Israel’s Police Chief Roni Alsheich confirmed that the incident was a terror attack and said: “The soldiers at the scene reacted immediately and killed the attacker.”
The attacker was later named as Fadi al-Qanbar from nearby Jabel Mukabeer. Channel Two reported that al-Qanbar was in his late twenties, married with four children and had served time in Israeli prison.
Israel’s Security Cabinet decided yesterday evening to temporarily close off Jabel Mukabeer and to destroy al-Qanbar’s home as a deterrent to potential future terrorists.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the attack was “part of the same pattern inspired by Islamic State, by Isis, that we saw first in France, then in Germany and now in Jerusalem”.
No group has taken responsibility for the attack, although Hamas has praised it as “heroic,” saying it “affirms that all attempts to encircle the [Palestinian] intifada will fail”.
Several terror attacks have taken place in Armon Hanatziv since October 2015, when a period of Palestinian violence erupted, killing at least 42 people. They include a gun attack on a bus, which killed three people.