Jerusalem: At least eight people were injured, two of them seriously, in shooting incidents near Jerusalem’s Western Wall, authorities said.
The suspect, a Palestinian, was arrested after turning himself in several hours following the attacks, dpa news agency quoted the police as saying on Sunday.
The shots targeted a bus in the Old City, as well as a car park near David’s Tomb on Mount Zion, according to Israeli media.
The attack was reported at 1.24 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue service.
The bus was transporting worshippers into the city from the Western Wall, a holy Jewish prayer site, according to a paramedic.
“According to a passerby, a terrorist began to shoot indiscriminately toward the bus,” MDA paramedic Shimi Grossman said, adding that he arrived to a scene of panic.
One of the wounded was a heavily pregnant woman who underwent an emergency Caesarian, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported. The baby was reportedly in a serious but stable condition, it added.
“All those who seek our harm should know that they will pay a price for any harm to our civilians,” Prime Minister Yair Lapid said following the attack.
Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum called the attack a “natural reaction to the arrogance of the occupation soldiers and the Zionist settlers and their daily crimes against our people, our land and our Islamic and Christian holy sites, and their continuous incursions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque”.
The European Union condemned the shootings “in the strongest way”, top EU diplomat Josep Borell wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
The bloc’s foreign policy chief said in the tweet that “Israel’s security is of paramount importance to the EU”.
Borrell also wished a “speedy recovery to all the victims” of the shootings.
The Noble Sanctuary, or al-Haram al-Sharif, with the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque, is the third holiest site in Islam. To the Jews it is known as the Temple Mount, where Jerusalem’s two ancient temples stood until their destruction.
It is the site of recurrent tensions between the two sides.
Israel has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among other territories, since the Six-Day War in 1967.
The Palestinians claim the territory as part of a future state of their own.
–IANS
Comments are closed.