Israel is contemplating a major security clampdown against east Jerusalem Palestinians, beginning this weekend, after a Palestinian driver rammed his car at full speed into a Jerusalem bus stop on Friday, killing at least two people.
A six-year-old boy and a yeshiva religious seminary student aged 22 were killed and five others were wounded when a Palestinian from the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Isawiyah drove his car into a bus stop close to Jerusalem’s Ramot neighbourhood. One of those wounded was a child, who was in a critical condition.
The driver, who was shot dead by Israeli civilians at the scene, was named as Hussein Qaraqe, a 31-year-old a father of three. According to Palestinian sources he had been released recently from a psychiatric hospital.
Following the attack, angry protesters, most of them ultra-Orthodox residents from Ramot, crowded around far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, chanting “death to the terrorists”.
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The attack is the third in Jerusalem in the last few weeks and increases the pressure on prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s new government, the most right-wing in Israel’s history, which vowed to restore security for Israel’s citizens.
Friday’s incident also comes only a month before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, traditionally a period of tension in Jerusalem.
The perpetrator of Friday’s car ramming had no security record and was apparently not linked to any of the Palestinian militant groups, repeating the recent pattern of lone-wolf attacks carried out by residents of east Jerusalem.
Following a security assessment, Mr Ben-Gvir instructed the police to prepare plans for ”operation Defensive Shield 2″ in east Jerusalem, starting on Sunday, in order to deal with what were termed the “centres of terrorism” in the Palestinian neighbourhoods. The original Defensive Shield operation took place in 2002 at the height of the second Palestinian intifada uprising and lasted over a month while Israeli troops engaged with armed Palestinian gunmen across the West Bank.
However, senior Israeli security sources were quick to accuse Mr Ben-Gvir of shooting from the hip, stressing that a major security clampdown needs to be carefully planned in advance and approved by the security cabinet.
Mr Ben-Gvir told reporters he had ordered police to set up checkpoints around the Isawiyah neighbourhood, “to stop everyone one by one, and check each vehicle”.
Israel’s police chief cautioned that such a clampdown against Palestinians with Israeli ID cards was illegal.
At least 39 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank so far this year and CIA director William Burns warned this week that a third intifada could break out at any moment.
In tandem, defence minister Yoav Gallant signed an order imposing economic sanctions on 87 east Jerusalem residents imprisoned by Israel for terrorism offences whose families had received stipends from the Palestinian Authority during their time in jail.
Mr Netanyahu ordered the immediate sealing of the family home of the perpetrator ahead of its demolition. “Our answer to terrorism is to strike it with all our might and deepen our grip on our country even more,” he said. Relatives were arrested and interrogated to determine if they had advance knowledge of the attack.
European Union ambassador to Israel Dimiter Tzantchev tweeted: “Horrified & saddened by another terror attack in east Jerusalem. The EU strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism.”
