Pictures: Jerusalem terror attack

A Palestinian construction worker in a digger went on a rampage in central Jerusalem yesterday, killing at least three people and injuring 45.

Hossam Dwayyat, a 31-year-old Arab resident of east Jerusalem, wrought havoc on one of the city’s main thoroughfares, driving into oncoming traffic and leaving a trail of mangled vehicles in his wake.

He was caught on film as onlookers saw him take the digger from his construction site and crash through cars queueing on Jaffa Street. He overturned one bus and struck another before being shot dead by security officers.

“I saw him coming towards me and I froze,” said Chava Shimoni, a 24-year-old student who was making her way to lunch. “I could see his eyes and he looked so focused. A man shoved me out of the way — it was a miracle that I survived.” Ms Shimoni was one of dozens of people who rushed to the victims of the attack, helping screaming passengers out of the overturned bus and passing water bottles to those in shock.

All three of those killed were women. Their bodies were covered in plastic sheets as they lay trapped in the debris of their vehicles. One was reported to have saved her baby girl’s life by throwing her out of the window seconds before the bulldozer hit.

Dwayyat, who had a criminal record, was working legally on a building site near the central bus station when he turned his digger into oncoming traffic on Jaffa Street.

He wrecked half a dozen cars and hit a bus before aiming his vehicle at another bus full of commuters. He used the digger’s massive scoop to overturn the bus and rammed its side.

A number of armed men, including police officers, off-duty soldiers and civilians, momentarily stopped him by opening fire. At least three then jumped on to the digger as Dwayyat slumped over the steering wheel, apparently incapacitated. But he came to and the bulldozer lurched forward before Moshe Plesser, an off-duty soldier who had climbed to the side of the vehicle, shot him at close range.

“He yelled ‘Allahu akhbar!’ and hit the gas,” Mr Plesser said. “I did what is expected of any soldier or civilian.”

Eli Mizrahi, an officer in a special anti-terrorist unit, then fired several more shots. “I ran up the stairs [of the vehicle] and, when he was still driving like crazy and trying to harm civilians, I fired at him twice more and, that’s it, he was liquidated,” Mr Mizrahi said. Dwayyat’s body could be seen lying outside the door of the digger with blood at his feet.

Three Palestinian militant groups — the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, the Galilee Freedom Battalion and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — claimed responsibility for the attack, although Israeli police said initial evidence suggested that Dwayyat was a “terrorist acting on his own”. Hamas, which has a fragile ceasefire with Israel, did not take responsibility, but praised the attack as a “natural reaction” to Israeli aggression.

It is the first major attack on Jerusalem since March, when Alaa Abu Dhein, a 25-year-old resident of east Jerusalem, attacked the Mercaz Harav seminary. Police said that the attacks could mark a trend in Arab residents from the city’s east using their ID cards and freedom of travel to carry out attacks in Jewish neighbourhoods.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry official said that recent peace moves could be damaged. “We are trying to convince the people that we need a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza, and that we need to strengthen Fatah in the West Bank . . . Each attack furthers the public perception that no peace can be established with the Arabs,” he said.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, called the attack horrific. “Our first thought is for the victims and the relatives of the victims,” he said. “Our second thought is obviously for the process of building a Middle East peace that’s enduring.”

Dwayyat’s family, including his wife and two children, were questioned by police. Tayseer Dwayyat, his father, said: “My son never spoke of plans to carry out such an attack. If he had I would have tried to prevent it.”

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, has begun efforts to raze Dwayyat’s home and stop social security benefits to his family. The Israeli parliament also passed a first reading of a Bill to revoke the citizenship of anyone convicted of terrorist activity.

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