Amid a catalogue of dramatic eyewitness reports, Liel's account - reported by Ynet, an Israeli news site - stood out.
Describing how the man made his way down rows of seats to stab passengers, Liel, who had been on his way to high school in Bat Yam, said: "We all ran back. Most people came flying towards me.
"I saw him stab the driver, and I ran to the back with the others to get away from him. He approached us.
"I threw my bag at the terrorist as he approached so he would not come closer. The driver hit the brakes when the terrorist approached us. The terrorist flew into the air and I used my elbow to break the window so that we could get out."
"He chased us even after we left the bus, with the knife in his hand. I ran behind some cars, and when the security guards came to chase him, I pointed to where he had run."
Questioned in custody by agents from Shin Bet, Israel's domestic intelligence service, Matrouk reportedly said he had been motivated by last summer's 50-day Gaza war and continuing tensions over Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, but also sacred to Jews, who know it as the Temple Mount.
He also said he was inspired by radical Islamist texts promising a passage to paradise, according to Israeli reports.
Although no armed group claimed responsibility, the attack was praised by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group. Izzat al-Risheq, a member of the organisation's political bureau based in Qatar, called it a "heroic act".
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, led a chorus of Israeli officials who blamed Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority.
"It is the direct result of the poisonous incitement being disseminated by the Palestinian Authority against the Jews and their state, " he said.
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1JfJrnw
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