AP / October 9, 2022
JERUSALEM — Israeli police arrested at least three Palestinian suspects Sunday in connection with a deadly shooting at a Jerusalem checkpoint, as security forces searched for the suspected gunman.
The shooter opened fire on a military checkpoint in east Jerusalem late Saturday, killing a female Israeli soldier and wounding three other soldiers, one of them seriously. The Israeli military identified the soldier as 18-year-old Noa Lazar.
It was the latest bloodshed in the deadliest violence in the region in seven years. It also came less than a day before Israel was to begin celebrating the weeklong Sukkot holiday, a time when tens of thousands of Jews visit the holy city.
Police said a large force of officers, soldiers and Shin Bet security agency operatives were involved in the search to apprehend the Palestinian attacker.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid offered condolences to Lazar’s family. “We will not be silent and we will not rest until we bring the abominable killers to justice,” he said.
The attack came hours after two Palestinian teenagers were killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. A day earlier, two other Palestinian teenagers, ages 14 and 17, were killed by Israeli fire in separate incidents elsewhere in the West Bank.
Rights groups accuse Israeli forces of using excessive force in their dealings with the Palestinians, particularly young men, without being held accountable. The military says it contends with complex, life-threatening scenarios.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed the area in a move that is not recognized internationally. It considers the entire city, including east Jerusalem, home to the city’s most important holy sites, to be its capital. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem for the capital of a future state with the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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Palestinian gunman kills woman Israeli soldier in Jerusalem
Joseph Federman
AP / October 8, 2022
JERUSALEM — A Palestinian opened fire on an Israeli military checkpoint in east Jerusalem on Saturday night, killing a female Israeli soldier and wounding three other people, Israeli authorities said.
The attack came hours after a pair of Palestinian teenagers were killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.
It was the latest bloodshed in the deadliest round of fighting in the area in seven years. It also came less than 24 hours before Israel was to begin celebrating the weeklong Sukkot holiday, a time when tens of thousands of Jews visit the holy city.
Saturday night’s shooting occurred at a checkpoint near the Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem. Police said the assailant got out of a car and opened fire, seriously wounding the female soldier and a security guard before running into the camp. The army announced early Sunday that the woman, who was 19, had died.
Police said two members of the paramilitary border police unit were lightly wounded by shrapnel.
Police said they were searching for the attacker, with special forces and a helicopter involved in the search. Police said early Sunday that they arrested one person on suspicion of involvement in the attack, but were continuing the manhunt.
“Our hearts tonight are with the wounded and their families,” said Prime Minister Yair Lapid. “Terrorism will not defeat us. We are also strong on this difficult evening.”
Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed the area in a move that is not recognized internationally. It considers the entire city, including east Jerusalem, home to the city’s most important holy sites, to be its capital. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
Israel already has been carrying out daily arrest raids in the occupied West Bank since a series of deadly Palestinian attacks inside Israel. Most of the military activity has been focused in the Palestinian cities of Jenin and Nablus in the northern West Bank.
Earlier Saturday, the Israeli military shot and killed two Palestinian teens during an arrest raid in the Jenin refugee camp, the site of repeated clashes between Israeli forces and local gunmen and residents. The camp is known as a stronghold of Palestinian militants.
Palestinian officials said soldiers entered the camp early Saturday and surrounded a house. In videos circulated on social media, exchanges of fire could be heard. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported two dead and 11 wounded, three of them critically.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the dead as Mahmoud al-Sous, 18, and Ahmad Daraghmeh, 16.
The Israeli military said it had arrested a 25-year-old operative from the Islamic Jihad militant group who has previously been imprisoned by Israel. It said the man had recently been involved in shooting attacks on Israeli soldiers.
It said soldiers opened fire during the raid when dozens of Palestinians hurled explosives and shot at them.
Just before noontime, the Israeli forces withdrew from the area.
