'J'lem terrorist was a Hamas member'

East J'lem teen shot dead after ramming car into crowd of IDF soldiers next to J'lem's Old City.

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS, JPOST.COM STAFF
kikar tzahal attack medics 224 88 ap (photo credit: )
kikar tzahal attack medics 224 88 ap
(photo credit: )
The terrorist who rammed his BMW into a group of soldiers at a central Jerusalem thoroughfare late Monday was a member of Hamas, according to the Palestinian Ma'an news agency. Qassem Mughrabi, 19, from east Jerusalem's Jebl Mukaber, the same village that was home to the Mercaz Harav terrorist who killed eight students in March, wounded fifteen people before being shot dead by an off-duty IDF officer. The assailant had no previous security record, police said Tuesday. The 19-year-old had wanted to marry his cousin, and when she refused his offer, he decided to carry out a terror attack, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. The attack took place at the city's Kikar Tzahal near Jaffa Gate, and was the third such attack in the city in as many months. According to Army Radio, nine wounded from the attack were still being treated on Tuesday. Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco said Monday night that the attacker was shot dead "within seconds" by an off-duty IDF officer who was touring the city with his unit. He added that there was no intelligence information ahead of the attack, but noted that Jerusalem was under heavy security alert due to Ramadan. Half an hour after the attack, dozens of angry haredi residents chased two Arab locals who happened to be in the area. Many chanted racist slogans such as "Death to the Arabs" and tried to walk toward the Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem. Police on horseback dispersed the haredim, ensuring that the violence did not escalate. The attack came after two back-to-back bulldozer attacks in Jerusalem in July which left three Israelis dead and dozens wounded. Haim, an American yeshiva student, told The Jerusalem Post he came across the attack as it happened. Haim said he was walking near the Old City and heard gun shots, there was chaos and he saw wounded people on the ground who seemed to be "in pretty bad shape." The young man told the Post that as he was running away, he saw soldiers running toward the scene loading their rifles. Abe Selig, Shelly Paz and Yaakov Katz contributed to this report