Dozens injured as truck rams into bus stop in suspected attack

TEL AVIV

A truck driver rammed his vehicle into a crowd of people at a bus stop in central Israel on Sunday, injuring at least 35 people before he was "shot and neutralized,” police said.

Preliminary police findings showed the driver also hit a bus that had stopped at the same location to drop off passengers, the police said in a statement.

The attack occurred at Glilot Junction, in an area near the headquarters of Israel's Mossad spy agency, as well as Israeli army’s several intelligence units in Tel Aviv.

At least 35 people were injured in the incident, police said, without clarifying whether it was an attack. Some 10 people were in serious condition in the incident.

According to Israeli media, police were treating the incident as a terror attack.

The force, however, said civilians at the site of the incident "shot the truck driver and neutralized him.”

Of those injured, at least 16 people had been transported to nearby hospitals, the hospital said.

Officers and ambulances rushed to the scene, where Israeli television channels showed police cordoning off the area as medics helped the injured and a helicopter hovered above.

The incident comes as Israel holds ceremonies to mark the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 last year.

More than 60 living hostages, and the bodies of about 35 others taken captive by Hamas are still in Gaza, according to the Israeli authorities.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said "painful concessions" were needed to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, saying military operations alone could not achieve the country's war goals.