Gaza Genocide02 August, 20263 min read
Jerusalem Police Investigate Jewish Teenagers Beating Arab Bus Driver Moatasem Al‑Qaq
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Palestinian bus driver Moatasem Al-Qaq was assaulted by settlers in Jerusalem. Attackers described as settlers or colonists by WAFA and Palestinian outlets.
Bus driver assaulted in Jerusalem
Police in Jerusalem opened an investigation on Sunday into an overnight attack on an Arab bus driver, Moatasem Al‑Qaq, whom Israeli media reported was beaten unconscious by Jewish teenagers.
The Jerusalem Post said Al‑Qaq began his shift Saturday night, stopped at a red light at the Ramot intersection in northern Jerusalem, and several youths started hitting the sides of his bus before striking him through the open window.
The Times of Israel cited a statement by the Koach LaOvdim labor union saying the assault occurred on the No. 2 Superbus line, which had no passengers on board at the time, and the union said Al‑Qaq lost consciousness for about two minutes.
Koach LaOvdim quoted Al‑Qaq saying, “When I came to, I felt blood in my mouth. Around me were curses and yelling and faces full of hate,” as he described regaining consciousness amid “curses and yelling and faces full of hate.”
The union said Al‑Qaq contacted police and was taken to a hospital, while Superbus said it “views the assault with the utmost severity and strongly condemns any act of violence against public transportation employees.”
Union and bus officials react
Koach LaOvdim head of the union’s transportation division Itay Cohen condemned the attack and called for improved security on Jerusalem’s buses, saying, “Another line has been crossed in the violence against public transportation workers, and only the driver’s quick thinking prevented a disaster.” Cohen added, “What would have happened if, after this attempted lynching, he had crashed into another vehicle?,” and said the union found it unacceptable that only three mobile security officers were responsible for addressing violence on the city’s buses. The same report said the case came amid what labor advocates describe as a surge in assaults on Arab bus drivers by ultra‑nationalist Jewish youths in and around Jerusalem, and it cited Israel Ganon, chairman of the Bus Drivers Association, saying, “There is no punishment by judges, there is no enforcement from police, and this leads to the violence.”
In February, Koach LaOvdim noted a 30 percent increase in attacks on bus drivers in 2025 compared with 2024, and said that in Jerusalem alone it recorded 100 cases of physical assault in which a driver required medical care. The report also referenced an earlier incident in January in Romema, where Palestinian bus driver Fakhri Khatib operating Egged bus 64 called police for help but none arrived, and protesters pried open the door and forced their way inside.
Wider pattern and risks
Beyond the Ramot intersection attack, Saba reported that Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian bus driver Mu'tasim al-Qaq in occupied Al-Quds on Sunday, beating him and causing injuries that required hospital treatment. Saba said residents linked the assault to a surge in racist assaults by settlers against Palestinian residents in occupied Jerusalem, including those working in the transportation sector, and it described settlers grazing sheep in the village of al-Minya southeast of Bethlehem while damaging olive trees. WAFA similarly said that on Sunday “terrorist settlers assaulted a Palestinian bus driver in occupied East Jerusalem,” leaving him injured and requiring hospitalization, and it identified the driver as Mu'tasim al-Qaq.
“Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian bus driver in occupied Al-Quds on Sunday, beating him and causing injuries that required hospital treatment.”
WAFA framed the assault as part of an escalation in racist attacks by Israeli colonists against Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem, including those working in the public transportation sector. With the Jerusalem police investigation underway and Superbus saying it is cooperating with police to identify and arrest suspects while providing support to the injured driver and his family, the sources portray ongoing pressure on transportation security in and around Jerusalem.