The court also indicted 22-year-old Issa Islam from the Arab city of Kafr Qassim for endangering lives on the road and aggravated injury and destruction of property after killing one and wounding 18 others.
In May, Islam drove his truck for two kilometers in Tel Aviv, during which he hit a bus, a number of vehicles, and a number of pedestrians.
The Tel Aviv Prosecutor’s Office motioned to extend Islam’s remand until the conclusion of legal proceedings against him. “The defendant embarked on an indiscriminate killing rampage with intent to harm Jews while driving a 15-ton Volvo semitrailer at high velocity,” the motion stated.
The prosecution noted there is ample evidence suggesting the defendant had intended to harm Jews. Israeli police still suspect that Issa's actions were intentional, and that he carried them out to coincide with Nakba (Catastrophe) Day, an annual commemoration of the catastrophe Palestinians suffered after the 1948 War.
In the past there have been Palestinian attacks using vehicles; in some cases there was uncertainty over whether the incidents might have been accidental.
In 2008, a Palestinian from east Jerusalem killed three Israelis when he rammed and flipped over a number of cars on a busy street. That attack was followed by several similar incidents in which Israelis were wounded by Arab drivers who were then shot by security forces.
