JERUSALEM // Thirteen people, most of them Israeli soldiers, were in hospital today after a Palestinian rammed a car into a group of pedestrians today near Jerusalem's Old City, medics said.
All were lightly or moderately injured except for one woman who was in serious condition. The Palestinian who carried out the attack was shot dead by police shortly after his car slammed into a wall.
The incident took place near Tzahal Square, just outside the 400-year-old walls of Jerusalem's Old City and a few hundred metres from Jaffa Gate, a major tourist thoroughfare.
Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco told journalists the perpetrator was a Palestinian from east Jerusalem, but declined to give further details about him.
"The police are investigating to see whether the perpetrator of the attack had any accomplices, but the initial evidence we have indicates it was the isolated act of an individual," he told reporters.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from any armed group.
Police have meanwhile stepped up security across the city ahead of the Jewish high holidays in Oct, when large numbers of people are expected to visit Jerusalem and its holy sites.
Yesterday's incident came just hours after the Israeli president Shimon Peres asked the foreign minister Tzipi Livni to form a new government after the resignation of the prime minister Ehud Olmert, who has been dogged by corruption allegations.
Ms Livni, 50, a former Mossad spy who replaced Mr Olmert as head of the centrist Kadima party in a leadership vote on Wednesday, could become Israel's second woman prime minister after Golda Meir, who served from 1969 to 1974.
The defence minister Ehud Barak, the head of the Labour Party and a crucial coalition ally, said the home of the Palestinian had to be "destroyed as soon as possible" to dissuade others from carrying out similar acts.
Exactly two months earlier, on July 22, a Palestinian wounded 16 people when he turned an earth mover on passers-by and vehicles in Jerusalem.
That incident mimicked one 10 days earlier in which another Palestinian, also in an earth mover, killed three Israelis and injured more than 45. Both men were shot dead immediately after the attacks.
On March 6, a Palestinian opened fire at a Jewish religious school, killing eight Israeli students in the worst attack the city had seen in years.
In each instance, the attackers hailed from east Jerusalem, prompting calls from across the political spectrum for their homes to be destroyed.
More than 250,000 Palestinians live in east Jerusalem. They hold special ID cards that allow them to travel and work in Israel, but are not citizens.
Israel occupied and annexed east Jerusalem, including the Old City, in the 1967 Six Day War and considers the entire city to be its "eternal, undivided" capital, a claim not recognised by the international community.
*AFP
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sav%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Purvi%20Munot%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24750%2C000%20as%20of%20March%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National