Man Rams Car Into Jerusalem Crowd, Then Launches Attack With Metal Bar: Police

JERUSALEM, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A motorist rammed into pedestrians on a crowded Jerusalem street and then got out of his vehicle to attack people with a metal bar on Wednesday in what Israeli police, who shot him dead, said appeared to be a deliberate Palestinian attack.

An ambulance service spokesman said eight people were injured by the driver, two of them critically.

It was the second such incident in two weeks in the holy city, the scene of daily Palestinian protests amid tensions over a sacred compound Muslims revere as Noble Sanctuary and Jews as Temple Mount.

Police said the driver ran down pedestrians on a main road that straddles predominantly Arab East Jerusalem and an adjacent ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. Crashing to a halt at a nearby junction, he emerged from the van and began striking at people with a metal pipe.

On Oct. 22, a Palestinian motorist drove through a nearby train station, killing two people before he was shot dead by Israeli police.

Police referred to Wednesday's incident as a terrorist attack and said the driver was apparently a Palestinian from East Jerusalem. He was killed by officers at the scene. (Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Jeffrey Heller)