11 injured in vehicular attack in Jerusalem, Palestinian assailant killed

A Palestinian man wounded at least 11 people as he rammed his car at Jewish commuters in Jerusalem Monday.

An Israeli citizen and security personnel swiftly shot him dead on site, officials said.

Police spokeswoman, Luba Samri, identified the attacker as Abd al-Muhassan Hassona, a 21-year-old resident of Beit Hanina, a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

Shortly after 15:00 (around 13 GMT), Hassona drove his car to the city's west side and rammed it into a group of commuters standing at a busy bus station near the entrance into Jerusalem, elaborated Samri.

She said that a passerby and two security personnel who noticed the incident immediately opened fire at the driver, promptly killing him on site.

Assi Aharoni, Jerusalem police spokesman, later said that an axe was discovered in Hassona's car, suggesting an upcoming potential greater attack.

An emergency services spokesman stated that a 1.5-year-old baby and a woman in her 60s were mildly injured in the attack, and at least 9 other people sustained slight injuries.

The attack is the latest in almost three months of bloody Israeli-Palestinian clashes with no signs of abating.

The current wave of violence began in mid-September, so far claiming at least 115 Palestinian lives and 19 Israeli ones.

The clashes were triggered by increased visits by far-right Israelis to the al-Aqsa mosque compound, an East Jerusalem site which is holy to both Muslims and Jews.

The unrest subsequently rapidly spread throughout the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Israel. Endit