Car-ramming Attack in Jerusalem: 12 Israeli Soldiers Wounded; Suspect Apprehended

Twelve Israeli soldiers were wounded overnight Wednesday in what Israeli security forces have described as a suspected car-ramming attack in central Jerusalem.

One of the soldiers, aged 20, was evacuated to receive medical care at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center while in serious condition and unconscious. Eleven more soldiers were evacuated to other hospitals in the city; they were all lightly injured.

Israeli security forces announced a suspect was arrested on Thursday afternoon, after a coordinated operation between military, intelligence and border police units. The suspect was identified by Palestinian media as Sanad al-Tarman.

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The incidents come amid a general uptick in violent incidents between Palestinians and Israeli security forces following the presentation of U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan.

The driver suspected of carrying out the attack, which took place at around 1:45 A.M. next to Jerusalem’s First Station, fled the scene. Security forces later found his car near the West Bank town of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem.

The soldiers targeted in the suspected attack were from the Golani Brigade and had been making their way to the area of the Western Wall in the Old City, the Israeli military said.

According to the army, the driver had accelerated toward the group from behind as they were walking down the sidewalk. He quickly fled shortly thereafter, and no shots were fired toward him.

A Magen David Adom emergency service medic who was at the scene, Oz Pollak, said that chaos reigned when he first arrived there. "We saw three young people lying down on the sidewalk and around nine others who were also hit were standing," he said.

"One person was unconscious. A 20-year-old who suffered from head and body injuries told us a car had come and run them over. With the help of IDF medics and soldiers at the scene we provided life-saving emergency treatment and evacuated," he said.

On Thursday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem commented that "resistance to the occupation in the West Bank and Jerusalem is the Palestinian people's practical response" to Trump's Mideast peace plan.

Also Wednesday overnight, a 19-year-old Palestinian was killed by live Israeli fire during an Israel Defense Forces operation in the West Bank city of Jenin. Clashes had apparently erupted between Israeli security forces and Palestinians who were in the area. During the altercations seven Palestinians were wounded, among them a Palestinian Authority policeman.