Alleged Palestinian car rammer arrested

Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Palestinian man who allegedly rammed his car into a group of people at a West Bank bus stop in May was arrested and will be indicted.

Muhammed Arfaaya, 22, of Hebron, was arrested a month ago in a joint operation of the Israeli army, the Shin Bet security agency and the police, the agencies announced Tuesday. An indictment is expected to be submitted to the military court in the West Bank in the coming days, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Four Israelis were wounded, one seriously, in the incident, which took place on May 14 near the Alon Shvut settlement in the Gush Etzion bloc of the West Bank.

Arfaaya admitted during questioning to intentionally targeting Israeli civilians in the attack. In addition, he admitted to previously attempting terror attacks on several occasions. The attempts were unsuccessful, according to the IDF.

The attack occurred near the junction where last November an Israeli woman, Dalia Lemkus, was stabbed to death and a Palestinian man drove his vehicle into three soldiers waiting for rides. Other vehicular and stabbing attacks have occurred in the area. It also is the same junction where three Israeli teens were abducted in June 2014 and later murdered.

Recent months have seen a series of vehicular attacks on Israelis by Palestinian drivers in the Jerusalem area.

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