Palestinian car-ramming in Tel Aviv deemed ‘terror attack’

Tel Aviv: Police in Israel have determined a recent car-ramming attack carried out by a Palestinian driver in Tel Aviv that injured a motorcyclist a “terrorist attack”.

A joint investigation by the police and the Shin Bet internal security agency concluded that it was not a car accident, but “a terror attack”, Xinhua news agency quoted an official statement as saying.

On December 8, the Palestinian driver hit a motorcyclist in Florentine, a neighbourhood in southern Tel Aviv, and was later arrested.

Following the probe, the police said he “deliberately” rammed into the motorcyclist to avenge the death of his cousin, who was killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank a day earlier.

The victim sustained moderate injuries and needed hospital care, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service.

The incident came amid a soaring wave of violence, sparked by daily Israeli raids in the West Bank in which at least 160 Palestinians were killed.

Israel maintains the raids are necessary to arrest suspects in a string of attacks in Israeli cities in the spring.