Bombing attempt outside Jerusalem wounds police officer
“Palestinian woman seriously injured after detonating a bomb in her car near Ma’ale Adumim, en route to the capital”
A policeman was lightly injured Sunday morning when a Palestinian woman detonated explosives in her car near Ma’ale Adumim, east of Jerusalem, reports The Times of Israel.
The attacker was severely injured by the explosion and was evacuated to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem neighborhood for treatment.
Police said officers noticed a “suspicious vehicle” driven by a woman toward a checkpoint en route to Jerusalem and signaled to her to stop. The woman then yelled “Allahu Akbar” and detonated a bomb in her car, a police statement said.
Army Radio reported the wounded officer is a traffic policeman who pulled over the bomber in her car for driving in a lane specified for public transport and carpooling.
The car was bearing Israeli, rather than Palestinian, license plates, the report said. Police found a gas canister in the vehicle and said that the woman had intended to carry out a bombing in Jerusalem.
Police at the scene of an attempted suicide bombing near Ma’ale Adumim, just east of Jerusalem, on Sunday morning, October 11, 2015 (Israel Police)
Initial reports pointed to a possible suicide bombing, saying that the woman had died in the attack. Police later said the woman exited her car just before the bomb went off, indicating that it may not have been a suicide bombing attempt.
Paramedics from the Magen David Adom ambulance service arrived at the scene minutes after the incident.
Aharon Adler, an MDA paramedic described the scene.
“When we arrived, we were led to a man in his thirties who was fully conscious,” Adler said. “He was walking around, and suffered from burns to his upper body. We treated him and evacuated him to the hospital in light, stable condition.”
Medics at the scene of an attempted suicide bombing near Jerusalem on Sunday morning, October 11, 2015 (Courtesy of Israel Police)
Adler said it was initially difficult to approach the Palestinian bomber in her car.
“When we could approach the car, we treated the driver, who was conscious, with burns all over her body, and evacuated her to the hospital in serious condition,” he said.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a massive call-up of Border Police forces in an effort to quell the ongoing wave of unrest and violence in Israel and the West Bank that has seen a week of almost daily terror attacks against Israelis.
On Saturday morning, a Palestinian teenager stabbed and wounded two ultra-Orthodox Jews, aged 62 and 65, just outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem. Police shot and killed the 16-year-old stabber, later identified as Ishak Badran of Kafr Aqab in East Jerusalem.
Hours later, another East Jerusalem teenager was killed while carrying out a similar attack. Muhammad Said Muhammad, 19, from Shuafat, stabbed a Border Police officer in the neck, also outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate, before being shot dead by other officers.
The wave of attacks started in Jerusalem last month over what Israel insists are unfounded Palestinian claims that Israel is expanding its presence at the Temple Mount and the al-Aqsa Mosque.
