Hamas militant kills 1, wounds 4 in Jerusalem before being shot dead by police

A Hamas militant opened fire on Sunday, 21 November, in Jerusalem’s Old City, killing one person and wounding at least four before being fatally shot by Israeli Police. According to AP, it is still not clear whether Hamas, an Islamic militant group sworn to Israel’s destruction, had ordered the attack or one of its members had acted alone. Police informed that the attack took place near a gate to a compound in East Jerusalem that is a frequent flashpoint for violence - the location of the Al-Aqsa mosque which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. 

Following the attack, one civilian shot by the gunman died of his wounds in hospital. Another was seriously injured, and additionally, two Israeli police officers were also wounded. The attacker was reportedly identified as a 42-year-old Palestinian man from East Jerusalem. The Internal Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev informed that the attacker, Fadi Abu Shkhaidem, a teacher at a nearby high school, had a submachine gun.  

Omer added that the shooting appeared to be premeditated and that the entire incident lasted for 32 or 36 seconds. On the other hand, a spokesman for Hamas confirmed that Fadi Abu was a member of the group’s political wing. Hamas praised the attack as a “heroic operation”, however, the group stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attack. 

“Our people’s resistance will continue to be legitimate by all means and tools against the Zionist occupier until our desired goals are achieved and the occupation is expelled from our holy sites and all of our lands,” spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou said.

UK to blacklist Hamas  

It is to mention that ​​violent knife attacks are a regular occurrence in Jerusalem, but gun attacks of this type are rare. According to AP, Sunday’s incident was the second of its kind in Old City in recent days. Last week, a Palestinian teen was fatally shot after stabbing two Israeli border police. 

Meanwhile, the attack also came two days after Britain announced that it was seeking to ban Hamas as a terrorist group and would no longer differentiate between its political and military wings. Israel’s figurehead president, Isaac Herzog, called on other countries to follow suit. “The fact the terrorist was from Hamas ‘political wing’ compels the international community to recognise it as a terror group,” Herzog said.

(With inputs from AP)