Officials claimed a Palestinian shooter from the Islamist group Hamas killed a civilian and injured three others in Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday before being shot by Israeli police.
The attack, the city’s second in four days, took place near one of the entrances to the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest site. The site is revered by Jews as the ruins of two ancient temples.
Omer Barlev, Israel’s Interior Minister, described the gunman as a Hamas member from East Jerusalem. According to Barlev, he used a submachine gun in the attack.
Hamas confirmed that the assailant identified by Israel was a member of the group. Britain designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation on Friday, despite the fact that it controls the Gaza Strip and refuses to live in peace with Israel. This action aligned London’s position with that of the United States and the European Union.
Two civilians were critically injured in the incident, one of them died in hospital, according to a police spokesman. Two police officers received minor injuries.
Following the attack on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett ordered increased security around Jerusalem. Bennett addressed his cabinet, “On a morning like this, one can draw support from the (British) decision to define Hamas – including what is known as its political component – as a terrorist organisation.”
In the 1967 Middle East conflict, Israel took the Old City and other sections of East Jerusalem and annexed them in a move that was not recognised internationally.
East Jerusalem is the Palestinians’ preferred capital for a future state. Israel claims that the city as a whole is the country’s eternal and indivisible capital.
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