The Latest: Israel PM says attacker was IS supporter
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Latest on a truck-ramming attack in Jerusalem that killed at least four Israelis (all times local):
5:15 p.m.
Israel's prime minister says the Palestinian attacker in a deadly Jerusalem truck ramming was a supporter of the Islamic State extremist group.
Speaking at the scene of the attack, Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacker has been identified and "according to all the signs he was a supporter of the Islamic State."
He says there "definitely could be a connection" between Sunday's attack, which killed four Israeli soldiers, and recent attacks in France and Germany.
Netanyahu says Israel has blockaded Jabel Mukaber, the east Jerusalem neighborhood where the truck driver lived, and is planning other measures to prevent similar attacks.
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5 p.m.
Israel's prime minister and his defense minister have visited the scene of a truck ramming attack in Jerusalem that killed four Israelis and wounded more than a dozen others.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman were seen talking to rescue workers and security officials at the site before quickly leaving.
The attack was among the deadliest in a more than yearlong spate of violence.
Since September 2015, Palestinian attackers have killed 40 Israelis and two visiting Americans. During that time, 230 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.
Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were attackers while the rest died in clashes. The Palestinians and rights groups have accused Israel of using excessive force in some confrontations. Sunday's incident marks the first Israeli deaths in three months.
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3:45 p.m.
Security camera footage of a truck-ramming attack in Jerusalem that killed four Israelis and wounded several others shows the vehicle barreling into a crowd of soldiers gathered next to a bus.
The soldiers are located well off the road. After smashing through the crowd at a high speed, the vehicle quickly backs up, apparently to run over more people. An instructor who was escorting the soldiers told Israeli media that he shot and killed the driver before anyone else was hurt. Other soldiers also opened fire, he said.
The source of the footage was not immediately clear.
3 p.m.
The Palestinian Hamas movement is praising a truck-ramming attack in Jerusalem that killed four Israelis, but does not claim responsibility.
Hamas spokesman Abdul-Latif Qanou called it a "heroic" act and encouraged other Palestinians to do the same and "escalate the resistance." Qanou says Sunday's attack proves the wave of Palestinian violence has not ended, despite a recent lull. He says "it may be quiet, it may linger, but it will never end."
Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, is pledged to Israel's destruction.
A truck rammed into a group of Israeli soldiers who were disembarking from a bus in Jerusalem, killing four people and wounding 15 others.
It ranks as one of the deadliest in a more than yearlong wave of Palestinian shooting, stabbing and vehicular attacks against Israelis that had slowed of late. Sunday's incident marks the first Israeli deaths in three months.
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2 p.m.
Israeli police say a truck has rammed into a group of soldiers in Jerusalem.
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri says the truck veered off course Sunday and struck a group of soldiers who had just disembarked from a bus. She says the attacker has been neutralized.
Israel's rescue service MDA says at least 15 soldiers have been wounded, including two critically.
Since last year, Palestinian attackers have killed 36 Israelis and two visiting Americans in a series of mostly stabbing attacks. During that time, 229 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were attackers while the rest died in clashes.
Israel says the violence is driven by Palestinian incitement. Palestinians say it's the result of nearly 50 years of Israeli occupation
