Jerusalem bulldozer attack

Jerusalem bulldozer attack
The attack site
Location	Jerusalem
Coordinates	31°47′17.88″N 35°12′23.04″E / 31.7883000°N 35.2064000°E / 31.7883000; 35.2064000
Date	July 2, 2008 11:55 a.m. – 12:10 p.m. (UTC+3)
Attack type	Vehicle attack
Deaths	4 (including the attacker)
Non-fatal injuries	30+
Perpetrator	Hussam Taysir Duwait

The Jerusalem bulldozer attack occurred on July 2, 2008, when an Arab resident of East Jerusalem identified as Hussam Taysir Duwait (also referred to as Hussam Duwiyat, Hossam Dawyyat, or erroneously as Jabr Duwait), attacked several cars on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem in a terrorist vehicle ramming using a front-end loader (erroneously referred to as a bulldozer in the media), killing three people and wounding at least thirty other pedestrians, before being shot to death. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said that an inquiry indicated the attacker had been acting alone. A motive for the attack could not immediately be determined, but police at the scene referred to the incident as a terrorist attack. Three copycat attacks have occurred since then.

This attack was the second incident in 2008 in which an Israeli Arab committed a violent act in west Jerusalem while carrying an Israeli ID Card (allowing for freedom of movement and travel throughout Israel), the first being the Mercaz HaRav massacre in early March 2008. On April 7, 2009, Duwait's house was demolished as a declared deterrent against future attacks, the first such demolition since 2005.

Preliminary investigations suggest the Caterpillar 966 front-end loader was taken from a nearby construction site on Jaffa Road. The perpetrator then drove the vehicle against traffic, before hitting an Egged public bus near the city's old Central Bus Station. The impact flipped the bus onto its side, hitting nearby vehicles and pedestrians. The perpetrator, Hussam Taysir Duwait, was also heard yelling "Allahu Akbar" during the attack. After a traffic policewoman had shot the driver, the vehicle came to a halt but then started again and crushed another car, killing another person.