One person was killed and four were injured in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem's Old City at the foot of the Arab market descending to the Western Wall.
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Israeli security personnel carry a dead body down the steps
leading to the Western Wall following a shooting incident in Jerusalem's
Old City.
(photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)
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One man was killed and four others were injured in a shooting
attack carried out by a Hamas member in Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday
morning.
Magen
David Adom rescue services said that two of the injured were civilians
and two were border police officers. One man was taken in critical
condition to Hadassah-University Medical Center at Jerusalem's Mount
Scopus with head wounds and was later pronounced dead.
A second civilian sustained moderate-to-severe wounds and the border police officers had light injuries.
Two
female police officers rushed to the scene near one of the entrances to
the Temple Mount and opened fire towards the attacker. Two male border
police officers later ran to provide assistance.
The
man killed in the attack was later identified as 26-year-old Eliyahu
David Kay from Kibbutz Beer Yitzhak. Kay, an immigrant from South Africa
was employed as a guide for the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.
A
friend of the family described Kay, one of four children, as “gentle and
kind.” He had served in the Paratrooper’s Unit as a lone soldier after
moving to Israel several years ago. His parents moved to Israel less
than a year ago.
“There
are no words, his father is in a daze,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “He
was such a nice boy, it’s so hard to believe. It was a big dream for
the family to move here. They are the most wonderful people, it’s such a
shock.”
The two
other injured civilians were identified as 46-year-old Rabbi Zeev
Katzenelnbogen, a father of eight, and yeshiva student Aaron Yehuda
Imergreen, who is hospitalized in serious condition at Shaare Zedek
Medical Center.
The attack, that took place at the Chain Gate in the Old City, was
the second in less than a week. On Wednesday, two Border Policemen were
lightly wounded in a stabbing attack on Hagay street in the Muslim
Quarter, near the Ateret Kohanim yeshiva.
"This
morning there was a severe shooting attack in the Old City of
Jerusalem. We currently have one killed and three wounded,” said Prime
Minister Naftali Bennett at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting.Bennett,
who sent his condolences to the family of the man who passed away and
asked to pray for those who were wounded in the attack said that he had
received an update from the Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev
and Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai and that security forces have to
increase their alertness in order to thwart further attacks.
“There
was a very swift action of our forces, the two policemen who were at
the scene and who very quickly neutralized the terrorist. However, this
is the second recent terrorist attack in Jerusalem. I have directed the
security forces to prepare accordingly and to be alert over concern for
copycat attacks. We need to be on heightened alert and prevent further
attacks,” he said.
Bar-Lev
said that the attacker “moved through the alleys and fired quite a bit.
Luckily, the alley was mostly empty because otherwise — heaven forbid —
there would have been more casualties. The entire incident lasted 32 or
36 seconds. The actions of the female officers was operationally at the
highest possible level.”
Defense
Minister Benny Gantz said that he wanted to commend the forces “who
acted quickly and resolutely and thwarted a much more severe attack.”
Sending
his condolences to the family of the man who was killed and his best
wishes to the wounded, he said that Israel “will continue to fight
terrorism everywhere it raises its head.”
On Sunday night, Religious Zionist MKs Orit Struk and Simcha Rotman
joined with hundreds of youth from a number of right-wing movements in a
march and protest from the Jaffa Gate through the market where the
terror attack took place to the Western Wall. The protest took place
with the approval and escort of the security services.
Police
officers at the scene opened fire at the shooter, an East Jerusalem
Palestinian, and killed him, according to police. He was later
identified as Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, a 42-year-old resident of Shuafat camp
in east Jerusalem and a known Hamas member. His wife and son are said
to have left the country several days before the attack.
A man in his 30s has succumbed to his wounds from the shooting attack outside the Kotel in Jerusalem’s Old City
— Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) November 21, 2021
صورة تظهر الشهيد فادي أبو شخيدم لحظة تنفيذ عملية إطلاق النار في القدس وقتله جندي إسرائيلي وإصابة 3 آخرين pic.twitter.com/1soUr4ZUd6
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) November 21, 2021
Bar-Lev who arrived at the scene of the attack said that Abu
Shkhaydam came to pray at the al-Aqsa mosque on a daily basis and that
on Sunday he arrived with a Beretta M12 and started shooting.
"There
was a difficult incident this morning that was dealt with quickly and
professionally by the men and women of the Israel Police," Bar Lev said.
The terrorist is affiliated with Hamas' political wing who regularly
prayed in the Old City, and whose wife escaped abroad three days ago. He
used a standardized weapon that is uncommon in Israel," he said.
A Carlo submachine gun used in a shooting attack in the Old City of
Jerusalem on November 21, 2021. (credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT) 
The site of a shooting attack in the Old City of Jerusalem on November 21, 2021. (credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)In
video from the scene shared on social media, a voice can be heard
repeatedly yelling “help” in Hebrew, followed by several bursts of
gunfire.
Prior to
carrying out the attack, Abu Shehadam, wrote in a Facebook post that
"God determines our destiny, but most people do not know. The question
of our destiny is a question that God determines, God in His wisdom and
greatness, He chooses whoever He wants and presents them to their
destiny."
Hamas quickly took responsibility for the attack,
calling it a "heroic operation” and warning “the criminal enemy and its
government to stop the attacks on our land and our holy sites. [Israel]
will pay a price for the iniquities it commits against Al-Aqsa Mosque,
Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah and elsewhere.”
Israeli
security forces later raided Shkhaydam’s home and the Rashidiya school
where he taught religious studies in east Jerusalem. His relatives
including his daughter, brother and nephew were also reportedly arrested
by security forces.
Later
on Sunday afternoon, an 18-year-old Palestinian stabbed a 67-year-old
man in the coastal city of Jaffa, moderately wounding him. The attacker
also attempted to stab the man’s wife before fleeing the scene.
The Palestinian, from the West Bank city of Jenin, was arrested an hour after the attack.
While
the defense establishment does not think that the attack in Jaffa is
connected to the earlier attack in Israel’s capital, security forces
have been placed on high alert in order to thwart any copycat attacks.
Anna Ahronheim, Eliav Breuer
Source:https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/terrorist-attack-reported-at-jerusalems-old-city-685571
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