Palestinian driver shot after injuring two officers and hitting empty bus in attack in Jerusalem

This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

A Palestinian bulldozer driver rammed a police car in Jerusalem, injuring two police officers, and then hit a bus before he was shot, officials said today.

Israeli police said they regarded the incident as a terrorist attack.

The driver of the bulldozer was shot several times and taken by ambulance to hospital with severe injuries. There were conflicting reports about whether he had been killed.

The two policemen suffered slight injuries.

Uzi Mahatabi, 32, a taxi driver who witnessed the incident said: "When I saw the bulldozer throw the squad car up and down in the air with an officer inside, I realised it was a terror attack."

Mahatabi said he got out of his cab, and fired two or three bullets, hitting the attacker in the stomach after police had already shot the man.

The incident appears similar to at least two other attacks in Jerusalem last year in which bulldozers were used against cars and buses.

The police car was badly damaged when the bulldozer reportedly pushed it down a busy main road in the city and then flipped it over at least once.

The large private coach, which was not carrying passengers at the time, had some of its windows smashed.

The incident happened on the Menachem Begin highway, one of the main roads running through Jerusalem and close to several construction sites.

Hamas described the attack as a "natural response" to the demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and to the recent offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"The operation in Jerusalem was a natural response to aggression against our people," Mushir al-Masri, a senior Hamas official, said.

"The Zionist enemy should realise that they alone bear the responsibility for displacing our people in Jerusalem and for the killings in Gaza and the West Bank.".

Last year saw a series of high-profile attacks in Jerusalem.

In March, a gunman walked into a Jewish religious seminary and shot eight students dead.

In July, a construction worker drove a bulldozer down a main street in the city, killing three people and injuring 44 others.

Later that month, another man drove a bulldozer down a busy street, ramming cars and injuring 16 people. All three Palestinians were shot dead at the scene of the attacks.

In September, a Palestinian driver crashed his car into a group of Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem, injuring 17 people in what Israeli police also described as a terror attack.

The driver was immediately shot dead by an army officer.