Three Israelis killed in gun attack by Palestinian assailant
Three Israelis have been killed in a gun attack by a Palestinian assailant at a settlement outside Jerusalem.
Police said the attacker arrived at a rear entrance to the Har Adar settlement at about 7am as security guards were opening a gate to admit Palestinian labourers with permits.
The talking is over, the occupation goes on. Will there ever be peace in the Middle East?Jonathan Freedland
Read moreWhen security guards became suspicious, the individual pulled out a pistol hidden under his shirt and opened fire, fatally wounding three Israelis – a policeman and two civilian security guards – before he was shot and killed.
The victims were named as 20-year-old police sergeant Solomon Gavriya and security guards Youssef Ottman and Or Arish, both 25.
Authorities identified the gunman as 37-year-old Nimr Mahmoud Ahmed Jamal from the nearby village of Beit Surik. Israeli security services said he had “significant personal and family problems, including those regarding family violence” and that his wife had fled to Jordan several weeks ago.
The attacker held a work permit for the settlements. Permits are issued only after security vetting.
Shay Retter, the head of Har Adar’s security committee, said between 100 and 150 Palestinian labourers typically enter the community each day for work.
Moshir Abu Katish, a paramedic volunteer who lives in the neighbouring Arab-Israeli town of Abu Gosh, described the aftermath of the attack to the Jerusalem Post.
Advertisement“I ran to treat the injured people who were suffering from gunshot wounds to their upper bodies. Unfortunately, the three more seriously injured people in the attack were pronounced dead at the scene. A fourth person who was injured we treated at the scene before he was transported to the hospital for further treatment and observation,” he said.
The incident, at a settlement north-west of Jerusalem that lies near several Palestinian villages, came as the US envoy, Jason Greenblatt, was in the city for talks on relaunching the moribund Middle East peace process.
A wave of unrest that broke out two years ago has largely subsided in recent months. Since October 2015, at least 295 Palestinians or Arab Israelis, 50 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton have been killed, according to the AFP.
Israeli authorities say that most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead in protests and clashes, while some were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/26/israelis-killed-gun-attack-jerusalem
Police said the attacker arrived at a rear entrance to the Har Adar settlement at about 7am as security guards were opening a gate to admit Palestinian labourers with permits.
The talking is over, the occupation goes on. Will there ever be peace in the Middle East?Jonathan Freedland
Read moreWhen security guards became suspicious, the individual pulled out a pistol hidden under his shirt and opened fire, fatally wounding three Israelis – a policeman and two civilian security guards – before he was shot and killed.
The victims were named as 20-year-old police sergeant Solomon Gavriya and security guards Youssef Ottman and Or Arish, both 25.
Authorities identified the gunman as 37-year-old Nimr Mahmoud Ahmed Jamal from the nearby village of Beit Surik. Israeli security services said he had “significant personal and family problems, including those regarding family violence” and that his wife had fled to Jordan several weeks ago.
The attacker held a work permit for the settlements. Permits are issued only after security vetting.
Shay Retter, the head of Har Adar’s security committee, said between 100 and 150 Palestinian labourers typically enter the community each day for work.
Moshir Abu Katish, a paramedic volunteer who lives in the neighbouring Arab-Israeli town of Abu Gosh, described the aftermath of the attack to the Jerusalem Post.
Advertisement“I ran to treat the injured people who were suffering from gunshot wounds to their upper bodies. Unfortunately, the three more seriously injured people in the attack were pronounced dead at the scene. A fourth person who was injured we treated at the scene before he was transported to the hospital for further treatment and observation,” he said.
The incident, at a settlement north-west of Jerusalem that lies near several Palestinian villages, came as the US envoy, Jason Greenblatt, was in the city for talks on relaunching the moribund Middle East peace process.
A wave of unrest that broke out two years ago has largely subsided in recent months. Since October 2015, at least 295 Palestinians or Arab Israelis, 50 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton have been killed, according to the AFP.
Israeli authorities say that most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead in protests and clashes, while some were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/26/israelis-killed-gun-attack-jerusalem