Bio

Hussam Taysir Duwait was a 32‑year‑old Arab resident of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher at the time of the attack. As an Arab citizen of Israel holding an Israeli identity card, he had freedom of movement throughout the country. Duwait was married and the father of two children. He worked for a local construction firm engaged in building the Jerusalem Light Rail.

Information about his upbringing, education, personal interests, or any prior involvement with militant groups is limited in reliable sources. Some acquaintances and later reports offered personal opinions alleging drug use and behavioral problems, but no official psychological evaluation or criminal history was publicly established as motive for the attack.

Murder Story

On July 2, 2008, Hussam Taysir Duwait carried out a deadly vehicle‑ramming attack on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem using a Caterpillar 966 front‑end loader taken from a nearby construction site. In media reports the heavy machine was sometimes misidentified as a bulldozer.

At about midday, Duwait drove the loader against traffic on the busy commercial thoroughfare. He struck an Egged public bus near the old Central Bus Station, flipping it onto its side and driving into vehicles and pedestrians. Witnesses reported that Duwait shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack.

Three civilians were killed:

1. Batsheva Unterman, 33, a kindergarten teacher from Jerusalem, whose 6‑month‑old daughter was rescued from her car moments before the collision.
2. Elizabeth Goren‑Friedman, 54, a teacher who worked with visually impaired students and was originally from Austria.
3. Jean Relevy, 68, a Jerusalem resident and air‑conditioning technician.

At least 30 others were injured during the rampage.

A traffic policewoman initially shot at Duwait as he drove the loader. At one point the vehicle halted; three men climbed onto the loader’s cabin, including an off‑duty IDF soldier (Moshe Plesser), an unnamed police officer, and a security firm manager (Oron Ben Shimon). During the struggle, the soldier took Ben Shimon’s weapon and shot Duwait three times in the head at close range. Motorcycle policeman Eli Mizrahi then fired two additional shots.

Some witnesses claimed Duwait was armed and fired at police during the incident, though accounts varied.

Authorities classified the incident as an act of terrorism. In the days following, Israeli Border Guard officers ordered the removal of a mourning tent erected by Duwait’s family. Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced that Duwait’s home, along with that of another attacker from a separate incident earlier that year, would be demolished as a deterrent. The Israeli Supreme Court eventually upheld the demolition, and Duwait’s house was razed on April 7, 2009, the first demolition of its kind in three years.

During the demolition operation, police shot and killed a Palestinian motorist who drove into officers, injuring three.

The attack also inspired a series of copycat vehicle and construction‑equipment ramming attacks later in 2008 and 2009 in Jerusalem, highlighting the emergence of a new terrorist tactic involving heavy machinery.