One dead, dozens hurt in Israel truck ramming

A driver rammed his truck into a crowd at a bus stop in central Israel on Sunday, killing a man and injuring more than two dozen people, medics and police said.

In a separate incident, Israeli soldiers killed a man who tried to stab them during a “counterterrorism” operation near Jerusalem, the military said, describing it as a “terror attack”.

The truck ramming happened on Ahron Yariv Boulevard in Ramat HaSharon near Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial hub.

Preliminary police findings showed the truck driver also hit a bus that had stopped at the same station to drop off passengers, the police said in a statement.

At least 29 people were injured, including several in serious condition, emergency service providers Magen David Adom said in a statement.

Police did not say whether it was an attack, but added that civilians at the scene “shot the truck driver and neutralised him”.

One of those hurt died later of his injuries, said the hospital where he was taken for treatment.

Paramedic Elior Yosef, who arrived at the bus stop after the ramming, said he saw eight people “trapped under the truck”.

“A number of further casualties were either lying or walking near the truck,” he was quoted as saying in the Magen David Adom statement.

Officers and ambulances rushed to the scene, where AFP journalists saw police cordoning off the area as medics helped the injured and a helicopter hovered above.

Palestinian group Hamas, in a statement, said the “heroic ramming attack” that was carried out near “Mossad headquarters… was in response to the crimes committed by the Zionist occupation” against Palestinians.

Elsewhere, a man who tried to stab a group of soldiers was killed in Hizma, a Palestinian town near Jerusalem.

“A terrorist accelerated with his vehicle toward IDF (Israeli army) soldiers who were conducting counterterrorism activity adjacent to the area of Hizma,” the military said in a statement, without identifying the attacker.

“The terrorist pulled out a knife from his vehicle, and attempted to carry out a stabbing attack. The soldiers eliminated the terrorist and thwarted the attempted terror attack,” it said, adding no soldiers were hurt.

Since the war in Gaza broke out on October 7 last year, there have been several attacks in Israel.

At least 30 people, including Israeli soldiers, have been killed in such attacks in Israel, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Sunday’s incidents come as Israel held ceremonies to mark the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon.