U.S. slams new car attack in Jerusalem

The United States on Friday denounced as "terrorist attack" a Palestinian's act of ramming his car into pedestrians in East Jerusalem.

"We strongly condemn today's terrorist attack in Jerusalem," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters at a daily news briefing, adding "There is no justification for such attacks. "

At least five people, including four Israeli female police officers, were injured after being hit by the car while crossing a street near an Israeli border police post.

Press reports said the driver was badly wounded after being shot by a security guard and was taken to hospital. A local news website said the driver is a resident of Ras al-Amud, an Arab village in East Jerusalem.

"The overwhelming majority of Palestinians and Israelis want to live in peace and security, and the United States will continue to stand with those who reject violence and seek a path forward toward peace," Harf said, calling for joint efforts by Israeli and Palestinian leaders and citizens to "lower tensions and reject violence."

Recent months have seen several attacks by car in Jerusalem and the West Bank, as tensions have been simmering and mounting there between the Jews and Palestinians.

The latest wave of violence started after Jewish extremists killed a 15 year-old Palestinian boy from East Jerusalem in July last year, following the kidnap and killing of three Jewish teens by Palestinian militants in southern West Bank city of Hebron.

Some 300,000 Palestinians are living in East Jerusalem, land Israel annexed following the 1967 Mideast War. Endite