Description

Photos:
Scene. Published by Maan News

Photos on social media reportedly showing Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin, Muhammad Hamid Jabarin, and Muhammad Ahmad Mufdal Jabarin. Published by Maan News

Slain police officers Kamil Shnan (left) and Hael Sathawi against the backdrop of a forensic team surrounding the body of an assailant on the Temple Mount, July 14, 2017. Credit: THOMAS COEX/AFP and Israel Police. Published by Haaretz
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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- JULY 14, 2017 9:19 A.M. (UPDATED: JULY 14, 2017 6:47 P.M.)

Three Palestinian citizens of Israel and two police officers -- also Palestinian citizens of Israel -- were killed during an armed confrontation in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem early on Friday morning.

According to Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, three Palestinians carried out a shooting attack at the Lions’ Gate entrance to the Old City at around 7:00 a.m. on Friday, critically injuring two Israeli police officers, who were taken to hospitals for treatment, and lightly injuring another.

Israeli forces then heavily opened fire towards the Palestinians as they headed inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, injuring the three, who were left on the ground bleeding while medics were reportedly prevented from approaching them, witnesses told Ma’an.

Witnesses told Ma’an that the Palestinians entered Lions’ Gate on a motorcycle and shot at the police officers at point-blank range, before heading inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound through the Gate of Remission -- known in Arabic as Bab al-Huttah -- where Israeli forces shot them at close range.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri later identified the shooters as Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin, 29; Muhammad Hamid Abd al-Latif Jabarin, 19; and Muhammad Ahmad Mufdal Jabarin, 19 -- all Palestinian citizens of Israel from the Palestinian-majority town of Umm al-Fahm. Al-Samri added that none of the three men had previously had a "security" record.

Rosenfeld reported early on Friday afternoon that the two critically injured officers had succumbed to their wounds while in the hospital, identifying them as Hail Stawi, 30, and Kamil Shakib Shinan, 22 -- two Druze citizens of Israel from the villages of Maghar and Horfish respectively.

Unlike Muslim and Christian Palestinian citizens of Israel, Druze and Circassians with Israeli citizenship are subject to mandatory military service in the Israeli forces, one of a number of distinctions made by the Israeli government between indigenous residents of Israel that have been denounced as "divide and conquer" tactics.

A video published by several Israeli news outlets seemingly showed one of the Palestinians lying on the ground in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, then jumping to his feet as Israeli officers approached him, only to then be shot at close range and fall to the ground.

Al-Samri said that the Palestinians were carrying two Carlo submachine guns, a handgun, and a knife.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to condemn the attack, official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said on social media that he was “shocked and horrified” by the “despicable attack.”

Meanwhile, Fatah al-Intifada -- a Palestinian faction that split from the Fatah party in the 1980s -- hailed the “heroic” attack as proof that Palestinians could resist the Israeli occupation.

"The attack in Jerusalem is a natural reaction to Israeli terror and the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque and is proof of the continuing resistance to the occupation and that the Palestinian people are united and supportive of the resistance," Haaretz meanwhile quoted Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri as saying in a statement.

Due to recent Palestinian Authority (PA) restrictions access to Hamas-affiliated websites in the occupied West Bank, Ma’an was not able to independently confirm Abu Zuhri’s statement.

Rosenfeld added that Israeli police had closed off the area of the Old City, including blocking access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, as witnesses said that Israeli forces were preventing people from accessing the compound, sparking fears that the attack could lead to a change in the status quo at the holy site.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the last time the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound was closed off to Muslims was in 2014, when far-right Jewish activist Yehuda Glick -- now a member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset -- was shot in the area.

Friday's deadly incident took place as Israeli forces killed an 18-year-old Palestinian early on Friday during a detention raid in the al-Duheisha refugee camp in the West Bank district of Bethlehem, raising the toll of Palestinians killed by Israelis in 2017 to 43. Ten Israelis have been killed by Palestinians during the same time period.

According to Ma'an documentation, at least seven Palestinian citizens of Israel -- including the five killed on Friday -- have died as part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since January. During the same time frame, 20 people have been killed in occupied East Jerusalem -- 11 Palestinians, seven members of Israeli forces, one British citizen, and a Jordanian national.
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Two Israeli Police Officers Killed in Temple Mount Shooting, Another Wounded

After shooting, Israeli Arab assailants entered Temple Mount complex and were shot and killed by police; Israel cancels Friday prayers at the site for first time in years

by Nir Hasson, Barak Ravid and Jack Khoury
Jul 14, 2017 12:15 PM

Two Border Police Officers were killed on Friday morning's shooting attack at the entrance to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Another police officer was also wounded.

The police officers who were killed have been identified as Advanced Staff Sgt. Maj. Hael Sathawi, a 30-year-old resident of Maghar, and Advanced Staff Sgt. Maj. Kamil Shanan, a 22-year-old resident of Hurfeish and the son of former MK Shakib Shanan.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the attack to condemn the shooting.

The assailants, Israeli Arabs from the northern town of Umm al-Fahm, were shot and killed. Police ordered the shuttering of the Temple Mount compound, which was cleared of people. Police also ordered the cancellation of Friday prayers at the site for the first time in years.

Police said that three armed assailants arrived at one of the gates to the Temple Mount when they noticed policemen present. They shot at them and escaped in the direction of the mosques on Temple Mount. They were pursued and shot and killed by policemen, police said, adding that two rifles and a pistol were found on their bodies.

The Shin Bet security services named the three assailants as Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed Jabareen (29), Mohammed Hamed Abd Al-Latif Jabareen (19) and Mohammed Ahmed Mafdal Jabareen (19). None had previous security offenses.

Muslim worshipers who arrived at the Lions Gate to enter the Old City or the Temple Mount were turned away by policemen. At least two religious leaders who arrived at the scene with entourages were also turned away.

The last time the Temple Mount complex was closed off to Muslims was a day after the 2014 shooting of Yehudah Glick, now a Knesset member for the Likud. The cancellation of Friday prayers at the Temple Mount compound is unusual and didn’t even occur during the second intifada, and may lead to tensions in East Jerusalem. An official from the Waqf Muslim religious trust told Haaretz that to the best of his memory, the last time Friday prayers were completely cancelled at the site was in 1990.

At the conclusion of an assessment of the attack the police commissioner held the police said that the incident "has significances on the diplomatic and international levels and will be treated accordingly."

Footage of the attack shows one of the assailants lying on the floor before getting up and being shot by police after they searched his belongings.

Netanyahu held an update call together with the defense and public security ministers, the IDF chief of staff, the head of the Shin Bet, the police chief and the government's coordinator in the territories. The Prime Minister's Bureau said that the status quo on the Temple Mount would be preserved.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said that "the attack today is a difficult and severe event in which red lines were crossed. The attack is still under investigation and will require of us to review all security arrangements at the [Temple] Mount and its surroundings. I call on all public leaders to act to calm the situation and preserve the quiet in Jerusalem."

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that "the attack in Jerusalem is a natural reaction to Israeli terror and the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque and is proof of the continuing resistance to the occupation and that the Palestinian people are united and supportive of the resistance."  

On Monday, a Palestinian man was shot and killed after he attempted to run over and stab a group of soldiers near the West Bank settlement of Tekoa. A soldier was moderately wounded in the attack.

Last month, three Palestinian assailants armed with guns and knives carried out an attack in Jerusalem that killed one Border Policewoman and left a number of people wounded. The officer, Hadas Malka, 23, was critically stabbed while attempting to reach for her gun, according to Israel's Police, and later succumbed to her wounds.