World

Israeli Soldiers Rammed By Car

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

August 10, 1999 / 5:20 AM EDT / CBS

A car driven by a suspected Palestinian militant plowed into Israeli soldiers hitchhiking at a major intersection Tuesday, injuring at least six before the driver was killed by troops and police, who opened fire and sent the attackerÂ's vehicle speeding into a cement truck.

Â"The vehicle hit two women soldiers and kept on going,Â" an Israeli army spokesman said. Â"The other soldiers did not fire because they thought it was a hit-and-run accident.Â"

Â"But police cruisers and a police helicopter were called in and a chase ensued. Ten minutes later, the car returned, travelling at a crazy speed. The helicopter radioed police officers at the junction to stand ready...(and) shots were fired at the vehicle,Â" the spokesman said.

Â"The car hit more soldiers in the group but also slammed into a semi-trailer truck. Fearing the vehicle was a car bomb, the armed personnel fired at the terrorist and killed him.Â"

Israeli radio stations quoted the Jerusalem police chief, Yair Yitzhaki, as saying the driver was a Palestinian militant.

Â"It was an Arab terrorist attack,Â" said Major-General Gabi Ofir, chief of the army's homefront command.

But a senior Palestinian security official who asked not to be identified, said the driver was a known car thief and drug addict from the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The official expressed doubts that the driver had nationalist motives.

The driver's body lay in the road as police took fingerprints from the corpse, but it was not immediately known if he died from the shooting or the impact of the crash, which crushed the small car.

Security and hospital officials said six soldiers, including two women, were injured and another four soldiers were treated for shock. One of the women soldiers was in critical condition.

The incident occurred at the Nachshon Junction, about 30 miles west of Jerusalem. Police sealed the area and searched the car for possible explosives, but found none.

A statement issued by Prime Minister Ehud Barak's office said he told his cabinet, convened to discuss the state budget, that he "took a grave view" of the incident.

But in a departure from the practice of the previous, right-wing government after such attacks, the terse statement did not point an accusing finger at the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian cabinet minister Ziad Abu Zayyad said of the incident: "Any violent attacks against Israelis will serve only the fanatics and right-wing elements in the Israeli community."

He said it was in the Palestinian interest to refrain from any violence that would give Israel an excuse not to implement the Wye River land-for-security deal signed last year and suspended by Netanyahu over alleged Palestinian violations.

In the past, Palestinian militants have driven cars into groups of Israelis at hitchhiking posts or bus stops. In response, iron barriers have been set up at some of the country' major intersection to prevent such attacks.

Tuesday's attack came at a time of dispute between Israel and the Palestinians over the implementation of the Wye River land-for-security agreement. Relations between the Palestinians and Israel's new prime minister, Ehud Barak, are strained, but both sides have said there is no deadlock.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's incident.