Fadi Ahmad Hamdan al‑Qanbar was an Arab citizen of Israel residing in the Jabel Mukaber neighbourhood of East Jerusalem. Around 28 years old at the time of the attack in January 2017, he lived in the same community adjacent to where the incident took place. Public reporting noted that he was married and details such as family background, education, or employment history are not widely documented in international news or public records available in major reports about the attack. His personal motivations prior to the event were not clearly established through his own statements or legal proceedings, as he was killed during the attack itself.

On 8 January 2017, at approximately 13:00 local time, Fadi al‑Qanbar carried out a deliberate vehicle‑ramming attack in East Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv Esplanade area, a neighbourhood near East Talpiot and overlooking the Old City. At the time, a group of uniformed Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers was disembarking from a bus during what was described as a training or orientation tour when al‑Qanbar drove a large truck into them.

The impact of the truck killed four Israeli soldiers — three women and one man, all in their early twenties — and wounded at least 15 more soldiers, several of whom were critically injured. After initially driving forward into the group, the vehicle was seen reversing over the wounded before coming to a halt.

Soldiers present at the scene, along with a civilian tour guide carrying a handgun, fired at the driver. Al‑Qanbar was shot dead at the site of the attack and died from his wounds.

In the immediate aftermath, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly suggested that the attack bore hallmarks of support for the Islamic State, though other analyses questioned the basis for this attribution and noted that there was no clear organizational claim linking al‑Qanbar to IS. An unknown Palestinian group calling itself The Martyr of Baha Alyan Collective later claimed responsibility and cited political motives for the attack, but broader affiliations remain unclear from independent reporting.

The attack drew widespread condemnation internationally, including statements from the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and other governments decrying the violence and loss of life. It also sparked intensified security measures in Jerusalem and debates over how such acts are categorized, motivated, and prevented.