CAPITAL TERROR: Four soldiers killed, 15 injured by truck in eastern Jerusalem

JERUSALEM — A truck crashed into a group of soldiers in eastern Jerusalem, killing four and injuring at least 15, in an apparent terror attack.

The soldiers — three women and one man — had just gotten off of a bus on early Sunday afternoon on the promenade in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem, also known as East Talpiot. The promenade marks the border between the eastern and western halves of the city, and is usually full of joggers, walkers and tourists.

Four of the soldiers, all 20, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Magen David Adom. At least one of the injured is in serious condition. The injured soldiers were evacuated to the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Karem and to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

The driver of the truck was shot and killed by shots fired during the attack, when the truck veered from where it was driving and headed for the soldiers, according to reports. Witnesses told Israel Radio that after the truck hit the group of soliders it accelerated in reverse, trapping more soldiers under the large truck.

“In a fraction of a second during which I was speaking with one of the officers, I saw the truck plowing into us,” the guide, Eitan Rod, told Army Radio. "After a few rolls on the grass I saw the truck start to reverse and then I already understood that this was not an accident. I felt that my pistol was still on me, so I ran up to him and started emptying my clip. He went in reverse and again drove over the injured."

Speaking to Israeli television, Rod questioned why soldiers hesitated, he said, before turning their own weapons on the driver, the Times of Israel reported. “I have to ask why it took a 30-year-old civilian to fire first,” he said, “when there were well-armed officers” present. He asserted that last week’s conviction for manslaughter of soldier Elor Azaria, who shot dead a disarmed, injured Palestinian assailant, was “definitely” a factor in the ostensible hesitation.

Reports said the truck had come from the eastern Jerusalem Arab neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber, and had yellow Israeli license plates. The driver was later identified as Fadi al-Qanbar, 28,  from Jabel Mukaber. Hamas said he had served time in an Israeli prison.

Hamas praised the attack in a statement posted on the Facebook page of its spokesman. “The continuous operations in the West Bank and Jerusalem prove that the Jerusalem intifada is not an isolated event, but rather a decision by the Palestinian people to revolt until it attains its freedom and liberation from the Israeli occupation,” the post said.

Other Palestinian websites were reported to be calling this a "Heroic Run Over."