Chaos unfolds in Israel: Car rams pedestrians, suspected terror attack

Amid fears of a possible terrorist attack, a runaway car sent many pedestrians flying while waiting at a bus stop in Israel and created havoc in full view of the onlookers. Israeli police are treating the incident as a potential act of terror.

The time of the incident was almost 4:18 PM in local time on Highway 65 near the Pardes Hanna-Karkur Junction. According to Magen David Adom's report, Israel's national rescue medical service, there were ten injuries, two of them critically. All the victims include five males and three females, with ages ranging from 20 to 701.

Attack and aftermath

Reports from Israeli media say that during the attack, stabbing occurred at the Karkur Junction, with two police officers getting stabbed. The assailant was shot and killed by police there. An Israeli police spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post: "The terrorist ran over several people at a bus station, then stabbed others and rammed into a police vehicle."

Was the killer identify?

The killer's identity remains unclear. Initially, Israeli media reports suggested the assailant was a 24-year-old Israeli Arab from the town of Malesh Irone in the Haifa district, having no prior criminal and security record. However, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) reported that the attacker was a 50-year-old Palestinian illegal resident from the northern West Bank, as also mentioned in The Jerusalem Post.

As the investigations are underway, the authorities are trying to work out a motive behind the attack. The incident raised tensions in the area with fears of more violence erupting further.