A car driven by an Arab ran over two policemen on Saturday morning at the Hizmeh security checkpoint in northern Jerusalem. One of the policemen was moderately injured and the other suffered light injuries.
The two police officers were taken to Hadassah Medical Center at Har HaTzofim (Mt. Scopus).
According to a preliminary investigation a Mercedes car veered from the opposite lane and aimed directly at the two police officers. Other police officers arrested the driver, a 37-year-old from nearby Azariyeh, without shooting him. He has no previous criminal record.
The driver was arrested and admitted during his interrogation that he intentionally ran over the policemen. He claimed to be suffering from mental problems. Police said that since the suspect claimed to be mentally ill, they were not sure what the motivation for the incident was.
Details of the investigation have been placed under a gag order and the police said that “clear details of the event will only be verified after an orderly and thorough investigation by the security forces.”
The incident follows a series of terrorist attacks that occurred over the weekend.
Three Arabs threw firebombs at houses on Saturday morning in the northern part of Beit El, located north of Jerusalem. Soldiers ordered them to halt and when they did not do so, fired at them, killing one and wounding another. The third terrorist managed to escape.
A young knife-wielding Arab attacked a tourist on Friday on the Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem. He escaped and was caught by Border Police officers. The tourist was hospitalized with light head injuries. This attacker, too, was reported to be suffering from "mental illness."