Israel police shoot dead driver after alleged 'car ramming' in Jerusalem

Five people were hit by a car that ran into a crowd in Jerusalem, police said on Monday, adding that the driver, whom they described as a suspect, was shot dead.

Israel's ambulance service said it treated five people who were injured before transferring them to a hospital, including a 70-year-old man who was in a serious but stable condition.

Videos obtained by Reuters showed a man lying stretched out on the hood of a car that was stopped in the middle of the road as shots rang out.

The driver was Palestinian, according to Reuters.  

Local news broadcasts showed a heavy police presence at the scene, near a busy Jerusalem market.

BREAKING: At least three Israelis were just injured, one of them seriously, in a car-ramming operation in occupied Jerusalem, according to media sources. pic.twitter.com/w6cwp4Lx73

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 24, 2023

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the incident was yet "another attempt to murder Israeli citizens," reported the Times of Israel. 

Netanyahu was speaking at a ceremony to open Memorial Day events - when Israel commemorates those fallen in war.

"Minutes ago, not far from here, there was another attempt to murder Israeli citizens," Netanyahu says, adding that the incident "reminds us that the Land of Israel and the State of Israel were acquired through many tribulations".

Israel has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967, with Palestinians subject to repeated violent and often fatal attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers.