ISIS Hits Jerusalem

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

ISIS through the Palestinian population has attacked Israel’s capital.  The attack in Jerusalem targeted young soldiers, all believed to be in their twenties.  Four Israeli soldiers were killed, and 15 were injured.  Two are in critical condition.  Ten of the victims had been trapped under the wheels of the truck used by the Muslim jihadist.  The attacker used a truck to mow down the soldiers in a style similar to the Berlin and Nice terrorist attacks.  The truck bounced in the air onto the promenade as it rammed into the bus without warning.  After hitting the group of soldiers, the driver reversed the truck so as to continue to grind the bodies of those beneath him, in an attempt to kill as many as possible.  The driver of the vehicle has been shot and killed.  The soldiers fired at least 18 rounds into the cab of the oncoming truck.  The victims were in the process of disembarking from a bus when the truck slammed into them.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacker has been identified and ‘according to all the signs he was a supporter of the Islamic State.’

He says there ‘definitely could be a connection’ between Sunday’s attack, which killed four Israeli soldiers, and recent attacks in France and Germany.

Netanyahu says Israel has blockaded Jabel Mukaber, the east Jerusalem neighborhood where the truck driver lived, and is planning other measures to prevent similar attacks.

The Palestinian Hamas movement who has pledged Israel’s destruction praised the attack, but did not take responsibility.  Hamas spokesman Abdul-Latif Qanou called it a ‘heroic’ act and encouraged other Palestinians to do the same and ‘escalate the resistance.’  Hamas controls the Gaza Strip since Israel’s 2005 evacuation from the zone.

The bus driver said the victims had been on a cultural tour of the city.

Since last year, Palestinian attackers have killed 36 Israelis and two visiting Americans in a series of mostly stabbing attacks. During that time, 229 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were attackers while the rest died in clashes.

Israel says the violence is driven by Palestinian incitement.

– Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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