Palestinian driver rams 2 police, shot dead: Israel

Two Israeli policemen were injured in annexed east Jerusalem Wednesday when they were hit by a car driven by a Palestinian, who was then shot dead, police said.

It was the latest in a string of lone-wolf attacks by Palestinians using their cars to ram pedestrians or police, in a trend which began in Jerusalem in October but has also spread to the West Bank.

The incident took place in A-Tur on the Mount of Olives, with police spokeswoman Luba Samri saying the driver had veered off the road and struck two border policemen.

“Another border policeman opened fire at the terrorist and neutralised him,” she said, confirming that the driver had died.

The two policemen were moderately injured in the attack and taken to different hospitals in the city, she said.

There was no immediate information on the driver’s identity, other than the fact he was a resident of east Jerusalem.

Israel seized the eastern Arab sector of the city during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as capital of their future state.