One person was killed and at least 13 wounded in the latest terror attack in Jerusalem today, when a man drove a pick-up truck into a crowd of people on Shimon Hatzadik Street, Haaretz reported. The Times of Israel reported that Hamas is claiming responsibility for the attack.

The driver was Ibrahim al-Akari, from Shuafat, an Arab neighborhood in the city, according to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) website Palestine Today.

Hamas and PIJ  praised the attack. PIJ said  (Arabic link):

This is a practical response by the Palestinian people to the aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Prior to the attack, PIJ said:

The battle for Jerusalem is continuous… The Palestinian people will not pay attention to the calls of calm in Jerusalem, and the confrontations will escalate and many young fighters will come out from our people.

Earlier in the day, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s paramilitary group, warned in a statement (Arabic link):

The Zionist enemy will pay a heavy price because of its criminal practices of Judaization in the Al Aqsa Mosque area… the coming battle will be the toughest in the history of the Zionist enemy.

Tensions in Jerusalem increased following the shooting of activist Yehuda Glick in Jerusalem last week. Last month, a three-month-old baby was killed and seven others were wounded when an Arab drove his car into a light-rail train station close to the location of the latest incident. In both earlier attacks, the terrorists were praised by both Hamas and the mainstream Fatah movement. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sent a condolence letter to the family of Mu’taz Hijazi, who shot Glick, hailing him as a “as a martyr … defending the rights of our people and our holy places.”

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