Attack in Israel near Barack Obama’s hotel

A Palestinian rams a bulldozer into vehicles on a busy Jerusalem street, ahead of a visit by US Democratic presidential candidate, and wounds 16 people before being shot dead.

A Palestinian rammed a bulldozer into vehicles on a busy Jerusalem street on Tuesday, ahead of a visit by US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, and wounded 16 people before being shot dead.

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The attack, just down the road from the hotel where Obama was to stay, was the second such incident in Jewish west Jerusalem in three weeks.

It occurred while Israeli President Shimon Peres hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at his official residence less than a kilometre away. Israeli officials said the driver was a Palestinian from a village in an area of the occupied West Bank that Israel considers part of Jerusalem. Its residents have freedom of movement throughout the city and Israel.

“The bulldozer driver left a construction site, and hit two cars,” a police spokesman said. “A civilian who saw what was happening, shot him. The bulldozer continued on its way. A border police patrol... continued to shoot and the terrorist was killed.”

The bulldozer also hit a bus. Emergency services said at least 16 people were wounded, one seriously. After the attack, police set up a cordon around the yellow bulldozer and the slumped body of the driver inside.

“This was another attempt to murder innocent people in a senseless act of terrorism,” said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.