Three lightly hurt in Jerusalem car-ramming; 2 suspects captured
Assailants attempted to open fire with submachine gun, tossed jammed weapon on escape route in Romema neighborhood, authorities say, describing incident as terror attack
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Three people were lightly wounded in a car-ramming terror attack at two separate locations in Jerusalem on Monday morning, authorities said. The two alleged perpetrators, Palestinian teenagers, were captured after a brief manhunt.
A makeshift submachine gun found at one scene attested to the deadly turn the attack could have taken had the weapon not apparently jammed.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated two people who were struck by the same car, first on Tchelet Mordechai Street and the nearby Yirmiyahu Street in the Romema neighborhood. Both were listed in good condition.
A third person was also lightly hurt, police said.
Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem said it was treating a 21-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy for minor injuries.
Police in a statement said the ramming was a terror attack.
Graphic surveillance footage of the incident showed a car plow into two men wearing ultra-Orthodox garb as they stood on a sidewalk, throwing them into the air.
Warning: Graphic
After crashing the car into a parked vehicle, the terror suspects can be seen attempting to open fire on people as they flee.
According to police, two terrorists involved in the attack fled the scene on foot. On their apparent escape route, officers found a makeshift “Carlo” submachine gun, law enforcement officials said.
Police said the gun had seemingly jammed as the terrorists attempted to open fire.
A large number of officers were dispatched to the scene to locate the attackers, police said.
A short while later, the pair were located and detained while hiding in a closed store in the area, according to law enforcement officials.
Police identified them as 17-year-old Palestinians from the West Bank city of Hebron.
The attack came as Jewish Israelis prepared to celebrate Passover, which begins Monday night. The victims seen in the surveillance footage had apparently been burning leavening, a traditional rite performed the morning before the holiday.
The attack came a day after a series of attacks by Palestinians against troops and civilians in the West Bank.
Tensions in Israel and the West Bank have soared since October 7, when terrorists burst through the Gaza border into Israel in a Hamas-led attack, killing at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and seizing 253 hostages.
