Hamas claims responsibility for attack in Jerusalem that left three dead
The first attack was carried out on the western outskirts of Jerusalem, where there are no checkpoints. According to police and rescue workers, two Palestinian attackers opened fire at a bus stop and killed three people - a 73-year-old man and two women aged 67 and 24.
The "two terrorists" drove up in a car, armed with an M16 assault rifle and a pistol, and then opened fire, said Jerusalem police chief Doron Torgeman.
According to the police, the two attackers were "quickly killed by gunfire from two soldiers who were not on duty and a civilian". During the police search of their vehicle, ammunition and weapons were found, it added.
Hamas declared a few hours later that the attack by two brothers was "a natural response to the unprecedented crimes committed by the occupying forces in the Gaza Strip and against children in Jenin", a city in the West Bank occupied by Israel since 1967.
Hamas was referring to two boys, aged eight and 15, killed by the Israeli army in Jenin on Wednesday. "Our heroes are wide to avenge the blood of the martyrs", Hamas declared and called for an "escalation of the resistance".
According to Hamas, the attackers were two brothers aged 38 and 30. Both were members of the armed wing of Hamas in East Jerusalem. According to the Israeli police, both had been imprisoned in the past.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said at a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the attack was an example of the "endless war we are fighting against terrorist organizations, especially Hamas".
Blinken said the shooting attack was a fresh reminder of the "threat Israelis face every day".
Footage circulated on online networks and Israeli television showed two men getting out of a white car and opening fire on people waiting for a bus before security guards and passers-by intervened and returned fire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Telegram that the quick intervention of the two soldiers and the civilian had "prevented an even worse attack". "My government will continue to expand the distribution of weapons to citizens", he announced.
A short time later, two soldiers were slightly injured in a car attack on a checkpoint in the West Bank. Soldiers on the scene "neutralized" the attacker with gunfire, the army explained. The injured soldiers were taken to hospital for treatment and the area around the checkpoint was "searched for further suspects".
Both attacks took place shortly after an extension of the ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas that had been in place since Friday. On October 7, hundreds of Hamas fighters had invaded Israel and committed atrocities, mainly against civilians. In response, Israel massively bombed targets in the Gaza Strip for weeks.
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Source: www.stern.de
