Live Video Footage of Jerusalem Terror Attack

This is video footage from Thursday's terror attack in southern Jerusalem, shot from what appears to be a traffic cam across the intersection.

The rest of the story is here.

More on those attacks here, and here.

(H-T: Avi Abelow)

Breaking: 3rd Tractor Terror Attack in Jerusalem

Israel National News has a good slide show of the scene.

Hamas has lauded the attack, according to Haaretz, quoting Reuters:

"Gaza's Hamas rulers praised Thursday's bulldozer attack in Jerusalem as a "natural response" to Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in Arab East Jerusalem and to Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip.

"'The operation in Jerusalem was a natural response to aggression against our people. The Zionist enemy should realize that they alone bear the responsibility for displacing our people in Jerusalem and for the killings in Gaza and the West Bank,' said Mushir al-Masri, a senior Hamas official."

From the JPost:

"A Palestinian man driving a bulldozer was shot dead after intentionally attacking a police car on Thursday afternoon. Before he was shot, the man tried to tip over additional vehicles including a public bus at the Golomb intersection, near Jerusalem's Malha Mall.

Police next to the bulldozer used in Thursday's terror attack near Malha, Jerusalem. Photo: Channel 2

"Two police officers were reportedly lightly injured in the attack.

"Less than an hour after the attack, Nissim Shahar, deputy commander of the Jerusalem Police, told Channel 2 that the terrorist had died of his wounds."

Malcha mall, just past the intersection where the attack took place, is one of the largest malls in Israel, and would normally be packed with shoppers at this hour of the afternoon.

From Haaretz:

"This is the fourth time that a vehicle has been used to carry out an attack in the capital. In July 2008, a Palestinian deliberately went on the rampage in a bulldozer on Jaffa Street, killing three people and wounding dozens more. Two weeks later, a resident of East Jerusalem carried out a similar attack, wounding at least 24 people.

"In September, an Arab resident of East Jerusalem plowed his car into a crowd of Israel Defense Forces soldiers on their way to the Western Wall. All three were shot dead at the scene."

More on those attacks here, and here.

2ND TRACTOR TERROR ATTACK IN J'LEM

Tractor at the site of the attack. (Alona Alalaluf/Ynet News)

A tractor driver rammed and flipped over a city bus and several cars in downtown Jerusalem close to 2 pm.

An Israeli civilian, Ya'akov Asael, 56, of the community of Sussiya in the Hebron Hills area, and Border policeman Officer Amal Ghanem shot and killed the attacker, according to Army Radio.

The terror attack took place at the intersection of King David and Keren Hayesod Street, and was a nearly exact copy of a similar attack on July 2.

The intersection is the nexus of three major avenues and the site of three hotels: the Inbal, the King Shlomo, and the nearby King David.

The body of the terrorist lies in the backhoe's cab; bullet holes pepper the window. (Haaretz)

Police say the 22-year-old terrorist managed to drive the backhoe 160 meters (0.09 miles) until he was shot and killed by the two passersby. The spokesman said that police "may change their operational methods in the wake of the attack."

Live footage taken shortly after the attack is here.

Yuval Diskin, who heads Israel's Shabak internal security service said that they had received reports of a planned attack against targets in the city, including the use of a tractor, one hour before the rampage.

Authorities have thrown a gag-order on local reporting of any identifying details of the attacker. The individual was reported to have been working with the tractor, a JCB backhoe at a nearby construction site at the Yemin Moshe cultural and convention center.

Debka.com reports that the driver was "Ghassen Abu Tir from Umm Tuba, a Palestinian village in southeast Jerusalem, who was employed at the building site. He was a relative of Muhammed Abu Tir, a Hamas lawmaker held in an Israeli jail."

Police say they were "familiar" with the assailant, and that he has a criminal record.

Latest reports say 29 people were wounded in the attack, including a mother and her nine-month-old infant, according to Israel Radio. A woman sustained a heart attack, and another individual is in danger of an amputated limb in the attack, according to the spokesperson. The remainder are reported to be suffering from shock.

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Diplomats and VIPS are commonly housed at the Inbal and King David hotels, which are both several dozen yards from the intersection.

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama is due to arrive in Jerusalem Tuesday evening for talks with Israel and Palestinian leaders, and was to be housed at the Inbal. It is unclear what effect the attack will have on his visit.

Liberty Bell park, which is heavily visited by the city's Jewish and Arab residents, and tourists is also across the street from the site of the attack, and Jerusalem's YMCA, a major landmark and cultural facility is nearby.

Police spokesmen say the terrorist copied a a similar attack three weeks ago near the entrance to Jerusalem, in which a Jerusalem Arab resident killed three motorists, and wounded 45.

A city Egged bus on the No. 13 line was rammed in both attacks.

No group has taken responsibility for the latest attack, and police believe the terrorist acted alone as in the previous attack.

The rampage joins a series of other terror attacks throughout the city over the past two months, aimed at it's Jewish residents.

This report will be updated as more details become available.

(Dave Bender)