The army said on Wednesday that a Palestinian teenager was arrested overnight on suspicion of wounding two Israelis in a terroristic shootout in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
According to Channel 12 news, the 15-year-old suspect shot two people at point-blank range on Tuesday morning, and fled the scene to school.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that the suspect, a resident of the Askar refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus, drew himself into crossfire during his first interrogation.
The army said the teenager was detained during a raid in Nablus, less than 24 hours after the shooting, and was transferred to the Shin Bet for questioning. There is no news of anyone getting injured during the operation.
Surveillance camera footage of the attack showed the assailant approaching the victims’ car and opening fire at close range before fleeing.
Police said the weapon apparently used in the attack, a makeshift “Carlo” submachine gun, was found by officers nearby.
Runs to car, shoots from point blank range and flees: Documenting the attack in Jerusalem@HGoldich
(Photo: Haim Goldberg, Shabbat Square) pic.twitter.com/L71fppNmR8– Kann News (@kann_news) April 18, 2023
Both those killed in the attack were treated at the scene and then taken to hospitals in the capital, where their condition was said to be normal and stable.
Moshe Yosef Hass, the son of one of the victims, said his 60-year-old father and the other victim initially thought someone had thrown rocks at the vehicle.
“He didn’t understand what happened. He thought they threw two rocks at the car, but then he started having terrible pain and realized he had been shot,” Menashe Hass told the Ynet news site. “My father is not one of those people who gets involved in security tensions. For years he has been praying daily at the tomb of righteous Simeon.”
The victims were on their way to the morning prayer at the tomb in Sheikh Jarrah.
The neighborhood, parts of which were historically known as Shimon Hatzadik, has become one of Jerusalem’s most tense in recent years.
Jewish nationalists have sought to evict Palestinian residents in a decades-long legal battle that was the catalyst for an 11-day war between Israel and the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip in 2021.
The suspected ‘Carlo’ submachine gun used in a terrorist attack in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on April 18, 2023. (Israel Police)
Israel’s Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai welcomed the arrest and said that in addition, security forces in Jerusalem have foiled eight terrorist attacks in the city in recent weeks.
“Every terrorist should know that the security forces will reach them wherever they run and wherever they hide,” he said in a statement.
Shabtai said, “The war against terrorism is a daily and cross-district one, and as police we do and will do everything to thwart any terrorist organization and any intent to harm civilians and security forces “
Separately on Wednesday morning, the IDF said three suspects were arrested during an printed It was suspected of involvement in “significant terrorist activity”, including shooting and explosive attacks at the Jenin refugee camp the day before.
The army said brothers Ahmed and Muhammad Jaradat were arrested along with a third suspect.
People gather outside a damaged building following an Israeli army assault on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on April 18, 2023. (JAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP)
The IDF said that during the operation, armed men opened fire and threw explosives at security forces, who fired back.
According to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry, eight people were wounded in the crossfire between the clashes. The official Wafa news agency said that included a 68-year-old woman who was wounded in the hand and a paramedic who was hit by shrapnel.
The IDF stated that they were “aware” of reports of injuries.
A military bulldozer brings in the captured Jenin camp pic.twitter.com/P40C7YfTB5
– Shehab News Agency (@shehabagency) April 18, 2023
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have run high over the past year, with Israeli forces conducting overnight raids in the West Bank amid a series of deadly Palestinian terrorist attacks.
At least 92 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year, most of them in carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces, but some were non-involved civilians and others died under circumstances that have been investigated. Is going
Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank have killed 19 people and seriously injured many more since the beginning of the year.
The attack came hours after Tuesday’s shooting in Jerusalem Palestinian woman stabs Israeli man, causing minor injuries Monday evening in the West Bank.
