Four Israeli soldiers were killed when they were run down by a truck in Jerusalem today in what police is treating as a deliberate attack, a medic at the scene said.

Arie Jaffe, of the United Hatzalah emergency service, said that the driver was also killed in the incident in west Jerusalem.

Palestinian security officials in the West Bank city of Ramallah said he was a Palestinian from the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Jabal Mukaber, close to the scene.

Police quoted rescue services as saying that 15 Israelis were injured, one seriously, in today's ramming.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the victims were in a group of soldiers alighting from a bus at the promenade, which has a scenic view down onto the Old City.

The bus driver said they had been on a cultural tour of the city.

Rosenfeld said that suddenly the lorry driver 'ran his vehicle into them. At this moment of time we have ruled out an accident'.

IMAGE: Israeli security forces work at the scene of a truck ramming incident in Jerusalem on Sunday. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters