12 Israeli troops injured in Jerusalem car-ramming attack

A Palestinian rammed his car into a group of Israeli troops in Jerusalem early on Thursday, injuring at least 12 soldiers, Israeli authorities said.

A military statement said that one of the soldiers was seriously wounded. The others were lightly injured.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the incident was being investigated as a "terror attack" and that security forces have launched a manhunt after the perpetrator fled the scene with his vehicle.

The incident took place in the "First Station," a shopping and restaurant area in Jerusalem.

Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Hedi Zilberman said the assailant sped his car towards soldiers on patrol. He said the suspect arrived from behind, hit the soldiers and then fled the scene.

Israeli media reported that the car of the suspect was from the West Bank town of Beit Jala, north of Bethlehem.

Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian movement, said in a statement that the attack was a reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump's recently-published peace plan. The Arab world has widely denounced the plan as biased and unfair.