At least four Israeli soldiers have been killed and more than a dozen others injured when a truck rammed into Israel's military forces in the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Israeli police spokeswoman, Luba Simari, said the incident took place in the Armon HaNetziv (also known as East Talpiot) promenade in southern part of East Jerusalem al-Quds on Sunday afternoon as a large truck veered off road and plowed through a group of Israeli soldiers who had just gotten off a bus, Arabic-language Palestine al-Yawm news agency reported.

Israeli rescue forces and soldiers attend to an injured woman at the scene of a truck-ramming incident in Jerusalem, January 8, 2017. (via Reuters)

She added that four Israeli soldiers lost their lives and 18 others sustained injuries in the attack. Three of the wounded troopers are said to be in critical condition.

Israeli media outlets later reported that the driver of the truck had been shot dead, without providing any details about the identity of the driver.

Palestinian sources, however, identified the man as Fadi Qanbar – a former prisoner and resident of the Old City of Jerusalem al-Quds.

Inspector General of Israel Police Rooney al-Sheikh has described the situation as very serious,” calling for large reinforcements to be dispatched to the area of the attack.

Israeli security forces and emergency personnel gather at the site of a vehicle-ramming attack in Jerusalem on January 8, 2017. (via AFP)

Meanwhile, in a related development, the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine termed the incident as a natural response from Palestinians to the ongoing Israeli aggression and its violent treatment of Palestinian people.

Later reports indicated that Israeli forces had stormed Jabal al-Mokaber region in occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds, breaking into the house of the Palestinian allegedly behind the truck ramming attack.

The truck-ramming attack came on the same day that Israeli military released statistics showing that 41 soldiers had lost their lives last year. The report noted that four Israeli soldiers were killed during operations carried out by Palestinian resistance fighters, two were killed in air accidents, seven in road crashes, five in different incidents, six died of grave illness and 15 others committed suicide.

A total of 43 Israeli soldiers were seriously injured during 2016 as well.

The occupied Palestinian territories have witnessed tensions ever since Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds in August 2015.

More than 270 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces in the tensions since the beginning of October that year.