Israeli medics carry a wounded person at the scene of a shooting attack in Jerusalem
A pair of Palestinian men boarded a bus in Jerusalem and began shooting and stabbing passengers, while another assailant rammed a car into a bus station before stabbing bystanders, in near-simultaneous attacks yesterday that escalated a monthlong wave of violence. Two Israelis and one attacker were killed.
The Jerusalem attacks, along with two stabbings in a central Israeli city, marked the most serious outbreak of violence since the current round of tensions erupted. More than 10 people were wounded.
The violence, coming at a time when peace prospects appear nil, have fueled a sense of panic in Israel and raised fears that the region is on the cusp of a new round of heavy violence.
Police closed major highways leading in and out of Jerusalem, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency meeting of his Security Cabinet, where police were to present a plan to halt the violence. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the country’s internal security minister, Gilad Erdan, was considering a number of immediate steps, including a closure on Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, where many of the attackers have come from, and making it easier to get gun licenses.
In the bus attack, police said two men, one carrying a gun and the other with a knife, boarded the vehicle and attacked passengers. Police said a 60-year-old man was killed, as was one of the attackers. The second attacker was subdued by a crowd.
Elsewhere in Jerusalem, a Palestinian motorist rammed his vehicle into a crowded bus stop, then got out and began stabbing people. One Israeli was killed, police said.
The Jerusalem attacks, coupled with a pair of stabbing attacks in the central Israeli city of Raanana that injured five, came in rapid succession. Emergency services said several of the wounded were in serious condition. Aron Heller, Jerusalem, AP
No Comments