JERUSALEM (AFP) — Fourteen people were injured at a popular night spot in central Jerusalem after being struck by a vehicle on Thursday, in an incident Israeli police are investigating as a terror attack.
The driver “fled the scene” following the early morning attack at Jerusalem’s First Station, an historic rail stop that now hosts bars, shops and restaurants, police spokesman Micky Rosenfled said.
“Police are searching for the vehicle,” he added. “The incident is being investigated as a terror attack.”
Among the 14 victims, one was left in critical condition, another had “moderate” injuries, while 12 others were wounded lightly, Israel’s Magen David emergency medical service said on Twitter.
The United Hatzalah medical emergency volunteers said in a statement that due to the nature of the incident, some at the scene “were suffering from emotional or psychological shock”.
There was no immediate indication as to the motivation of the possible attack, but Palestinians have carried out sporadic car-rammings on Israeli targets.
The incident also comes amid heightened tension between Israel and the Palestinians following the release of US President Donald Trump’s controversial Middle East Plan.
Trump’s peace proposals, which he unveiled in Washington last month alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with no Palestinian representatives present, have sparked anger among Palestinians.
There have been protests and isolated clashes with Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank since the plan was released.
A 17-year-old Palestinian protester was shot dead by Israeli troops in the city of Hebron on Wednesday.
Israel’s military described him as a “violent rioter” armed with a Molotov cocktail.
Trump’s initiative gives Israel the green light to annex Jewish settlements and other key territory in the West Bank.
It also calls for Jerusalem to be entrenched as Israel’s “undivided capital.”
Those terms have been rejected by all Palestinian leaders, including the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas which controls Gaza.
© Agence France-Presse