At least 15 people have been wounded and many feared dead as a truck plowed​ into a group of soldiers in Jerusalem. The truck driver was shot dead by police, which described the incident as a "terrorist attack."

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri said Sunday the truck veered off course as it struck a group of soldiers getting off a bus in eastern Jerusalem.

The Reuters news agency quoted the police sources as saying that four people - three women and one man, all in their 20s - were killed in the suspected attack. At least 15 people were injured as a result of the ramming.

Samri said the "attacker" has been "neutralized."

"They shot him, until they neutralized him," said a bus driver who witnessed the incident.

Israel Radio reported the driver was a Palestinian but did not disclose his identity.

Local media said the rescue work was underway as many people remained trapped under the truck.

The incident took place on a popular public place overlooking the walled Old City of Jerusalem.

"It is a terrorist attack, a ramming attack," Samri told an Israeli radio, which said the bodies of the soldiers were "strewn on the street."

TV footage showed bullet holes in the truck's windscreen.

The Jerusalem ramming comes just weeks after 12 people died in a truck attack in Berlin.

Hamas vows to 'escalate resistance'

Palestinian attackers have killed 36 Israelis and two US tourists ina series of stabbings over the last year. During the time, Israeli security forces have killed 229 Palestinians, who, according to the officials were terrorists.

The Palestinian Hamas movement praised the "attack" but did not claim responsibility, according to AP.

Abdul-Latif Qanou, a spokesman for Hamas, called the ramming a "heroic" act and encouraged other Palestinians to "escalate the resistance."

Qanou said the wave of Palestinian "resistance" has not ended, despite a recent lull. "It may be quiet, it may linger, but it will never end," he said.

(DW)