One dead and three wounded. This is the balance sheet of the gunshot attack that took place this morning, Sunday 21 November, in Jerusalem. The assailant, a member of Hamas, is also dead. The victim and the most seriously injured are civilians, while the two lightest injuries are Israeli policemen. The person responsible for the attack in the Old City is a Palestinian man from East Jerusalem. A Hamas spokesman called his “a heroic act”. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that he had given instructions to “raise the state of alarm to prevent further attacks”.
A 26-year-old who worked on the Western Wall died
The attack took place around 9 o’clock in the Old City in Jerusalem, near one of the entrances to the Temple Mount for the Jews. At first it was reported that all those affected were Israeli policemen. Later it became clear that the victim is an Israeli civilian: his name is Eliyahu David Kaye, he was 26 years old and worked on the Western Wall. The man – who lived in Modiin, in the center of the country – was shot and died in hospital. The bullets also hit Rabbi Zeev Katzenelnbogen, 46, father of 8 children: he was wounded while returning from morning prayers at the Western Wall. He is hospitalized but would not be life threatening. The other two injured, to a lesser extent, are police officers.
The bomber was a member of Hamas
According to the first reconstructions, it appeared that the attack was carried out by two assailants. Police later ruled out that there was a second bomber and confirmed that the man who shot was killed. The weapon used during the attack was a Beretta M12 machine gun. According to some media, a Gustav automatic rifle and a knife were also found next to his body. According to some witnesses, the bomber was wearing the clothes of an Orthodox Jew. His name is Fadi Abu Shedam, 42, a Palestinian from the Shuafath refugee camp (East Jerusalem). “He was a Hamas follower,” said Israeli Homeland Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev. He was active, in particular, in a movement in support of the al-Aqsa mosque. Hamas confirmed he was an active member of the organization.
Hamas: “Heroic gesture”
This is the second attack in a few days in the Old City: on November 17 a 16-year-old Palestinian hit two officers and was then killed by the security forces. Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for Hamas, called that of Fadi Abu Shedam “a heroic gesture”. “Our Holy City will continue the struggle until the expulsion of the occupier”, he added. Support also came from Islamic Jihad, according to which the roots of this attack are “the multiplication of episodes of terrorism by the settlers and of Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and the demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem. “
Source-tg24.sky.it