Palestinian rams car into Israeli police in Quds, injuring 4 officers

A Palestinian has reportedly rammed his car into a group of Israeli police forces in al-Quds (Jerusalem), injuring four security officers.

The incident took place outside an Israeli border police station on the line separating al-Quds’ west and east on Friday.

The attacker was then shot and wounded by a security guard.

Paramedics said they were treating five people for injuries after the attack.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri described the incident as a “terror attack” and said four of those injured in the attack were police officers.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld also said the attacker had been shot and was now in custody.

Tensions have been on the rise between Israel and Palestinians since the collapse of US-brokered so-called peace talks last April with speculations rife about the possibility of a third intifada (uprising) on Palestinian lands.

The incident mirrored a spate of attacks in the Holy City in October and November last year, where Palestinians plowed vehicles into groups of pedestrians, killing several people. The attackers were shot dead at the scene on those occasions.

Palestinians face various forms of Israeli aggression nearly every day, including heavy-handed suppression of protests by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and deadly aerial attacks in the Gaza Strip.

The latest attack came after the umbrella group of Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) decided to end all security cooperation with Israel.

According to reports on Thursday, the Palestinian Central Council (PCC) of the PLO, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, made the decision to cut all forms of security cooperation with Israel after two-day discussions in Ramallah.

In February, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat announced that the Palestinian Authority would review its political and security ties with Tel Aviv if Israel continued its policy of settlement expansion and withholding the Palestinian tax money.

In January, Israel blocked more than USD 100 million of tax revenues after the Palestinian Authority applied to join the International Criminal Court. The funds are vital for running the Palestinian Authority and for paying civil servants’ salaries.