Police investigate Jerusalem terrorist’s family

Police and other security services have launched an investigation into the family and possible terror ties of the East Jerusalem Palestinian who killed a pedestrian and overturned a bus in the city about an hour ago.

“From day one when the fighting started in the south, we knew we might see an incident like this of terrorism,” says Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch. “Two policemen from Police Headquarters [located in northern Jerusalem] and a policeman who was on a motorcycle nearby responded [as the attack was underway]. They reacted quickly, charged, killed him. That’s the response I expect from officers of the Israel Police,” Aharonovitch adds, echoing praise for the policemen who shot the terrorist that was heard earlier from Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.

“Their fast response saved lives,” he says.

Aharonovitch, in an interview televised on Channel 2 from the scene of the attack, declines to name the terrorist, but says “the entire family is being investigated. We’re going to find out if this was done independently, or if he’s part of a network. We have to check everything about him. It’s all being checked now.”

The terrorist was named by Palestinian sources as Muhammed Naif El-Ja’abis from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber, and Aharonovitch hinted in the interview that Ja’abis may have been involved in a previous terror-related incident.