A Palestinian man steered his car into a crowd of people waiting at a bus stop in northern Israel on Thursday in a terror spree that left 13 people injured, including a teen hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.
The suspect, identified as a Palestinian from the Jenin area of the West Bank who was living in Israel illegally with his Arab Israeli wife, was shot and killed while attempting to stab police officers after fleeing the scene of the initial attack, police chief Daniel Levy said.
Police said the attack at Karkur Junction outside the city of Pardes Hanna was being investigated as a terror attack. It came a week after a series of bus explosions near Tel Aviv that Israeli officials attributed to terrorists based in the West Bank.
Medical officials said a 17-year-old girl was fighting for her life following the attack after being brought to Hillel Yaffe Hospital in nearby Hadera in critical condition.
The Magen David Adom rescue service said the teen was sedated and hooked up to a ventilator, having sustained serious damage to her head and limbs.
A 60-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were in serious condition, also with head injuries, medics said. An 18-year-old woman was moderately injured, while six others sustained light injuries, MDA added.
Police told Channel 12 news that the suspect’s car accelerated before hitting a group of people waiting at the bus stop.
Grainy videos of the attack showed a sedan swerving suddenly into a bus stop on the side of the road at full speed before swerving back onto the divided highway and continuing.
At least six people could be seen lying immobile on a grassy embankment next to the bus stop in separate footage from the immediate aftermath of the attack.
“From there, he tried to continue onward with the car. He accelerated toward a nearby police car and hit it. The officers chased him, caught him and neutralized him,” a police spokesperson said.
Police chief Levy told reporters that the attacker crashed into a patrol vehicle, got out of his car with a screwdriver and tried to stab police officers, who then shot and killed him.
Arabic-language media named the attacker as Jamil Zayoud, 53. Originally from the Jenin area, he had been living illegally in Ma’ale Iron with his Arab Israeli wife, according to reports.
The Haaretz daily reported that Zayoud was indicted in 2021 for driving without a license.
Thursday’s attack came a week after three empty buses exploded in quick succession in parking lots in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon, followed by the discovery of two more unexploded devices on additional buses, in what appeared to be a botched attack. No casualties were reported as a result of the explosions.