Attacker rams auto into Jerusalem bus stop, shot: Israel police

A Palestinian drove a vehicle into Israelis at a Jerusalem bus stop yesterday injuring eight people before being shot dead, police and rescue services said.

Although officially opposed to violence, Mr Abbas said that it was “justified popular unrest” in response to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land. Israeli forces have killed at least 110 Palestinians, most of whom the army described as assailants.

Khalil Shikaki of the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research conducted the survey, with a sample size of 1,270 and a 3% margin of error. Police officers spokeswoman Luba Samri stated bystanders shot Abed Almohsin Hassoneh, 21, from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina.

Since mid-September, Palestinians have killed 19 Israelis in stabbings, shootings and vehicular rammings.

According to Israeli media, the suspects are hard-line young settlers, belonging to the so-called “hilltop youths”, groups of settlers who have been carrying out thousands of cases of vandalism and arson attacks on mosques, churches, and Palestinian property in recent years.

More than half of the Palestinian fatalities have been attackers, while others have been shot dead by Israeli security forces during clashes. She also condemned Israel’s deterrent demolition of Palestinian terrorists’ houses.

“The Palestinian public thinks Abbas does not support the current confrontation and is not serious [pursuing] diplomatic confrontation with Israel, which is why he is losing support”, Khalil Shikaki, head of the PSR, told AFP.

Support for Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas also seemed to be quite low, with 65% of respondents in favor of him resigning. A similar figure supported his resignation in a poll released three months ago.