VIDEO / Father of Jerusalem attacker: My son's no terrorist

The family of a Palestinian shot dead after his car plowed into pedestrians at a busy Jerusalem intersection challenged on Tuesday Israeli police allegations that he had carried out a deliberate terror attack.

But police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said authorities were convinced the attack was politically motivated. "We're 100 percent sure ... he deliberately drove into people," Rosenfeld said.

Israeli police on Tuesday beefed up patrols around Jerusalem, hours after More than a dozen soldiers, on a late-night excursion to the city ahead of the Jewish New Year next week, were injured in Monday's incident. No Palestinian group has made a credible claim of responsibility.

Police, including undercover agents, were out on Jerusalem's streets in larger numbers, on the lookout for suspicious activity and conducting spot checks of Palestinian pedestrians and vehicles, Rosenfeld said. Officers were also patrolling Arab neighborhoods of the city, including village of Jabel Mukaber, where the driver had lived.

Police announced Monday night that the incident was a terrorist attack, the third of its kind using vehicles against Israelis in the city since July and involving Palestinians from East Jerusalem and have wide freedom of movement.

The driver of the black BMW was identified as Qassem Mughrabi, 19. Mahmoud Mughrabi, 49, his father, said his son did not have a driving licence and apparently lost control of the car. "My son was murdered, they killed him. He did not carry out a terrorist attack. This was a car accident."

Mughrabi, owner of a trucking business, said at his home where police had barred him from setting up a traditional Muslim mourning tent.

Mughrabi said he wished the soldiers a speedy recovery, a remark not typical of parents of Palestinian militants killed by Israeli forces.

IDF Lieutenant Elad Amar, who shot and killed Qassem Mughrabi, said Tuesday that he fired a hail of bullets into the BMW after it hit a wall, because he feared that the driver would restart the car and strike more passers-by.

Amar told Israel Radio that the driver pointed the car directly at the group of soldiers and "floored it. I didn't see his face, just the car as it neared us."

"He ran into them, they flew into the air, some landing on the hood, people you were laughing with, joking with, just a moment before," Amar said. "They're my friends and I love them."

Army Radio said the Palestinian terrorist was shot 11 times.

IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi on Thursday praised the officer in a telephone call to him, during which he expressed his appreciation of Amar's courage and his accurate aim.

In his conversation with Ashkenazi, the officer recalled the chain of events that ultimately ended in the terrorist's death.

"I'm proud of you, you acted beautifully as a soldier and as an officer and your professional and quick response brought a quick and just end to the incident," Ashkenazi said.

Amar and the IDF commander of the artillery corps will visit the wounded at Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital in Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon.

This is the third time a vehicle has been used in a terror attack in Jerusalem in as many months. In July, two East Jerusalem residents carried out separate attacks with vehicles used in ongoing construction work in the city, killing three people and wounding many others.