Palestinian gunman shoots dead three Israelis
Assailant opens fire in West Bank Har Adar settlement murdering three and injuring a fourth
Britain’s Jewish community representatives have condemned Palestinian incitement following the murder of a border police officer and two security guards at the entrance to a Jewish settlement near Jerusalem.
Reaction followed news on Tuesday morning that a 37-year old Palestinian gunman shot and killed Solomon Gabrieh, 20, and civilian security guards Or Arish, 25, and Youssef Ottman. A fourth man was also wounded.
The attack took place as Palestinian workers with permits were being let into the settlement to work. The guards are believed to have become suspicious before Nimr Mahmoud Ahmed Jamal took a gun out from under his shirt and began shooting.
Israel’s internal intelligence service Shin Bet said Jamal, who was shot and killed at the scene, had a history of domestic violence and that his wife had recently left him, but that he had no criminal record or organisational allegiances. He is believed to have left a note to his wife apologising in advance for what he was about to do.
Board of Deputies’ senior vice-president Richard Verber called for the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the international community to condemn the murders at Har Adar, saying: “Terror is terror, wherever it takes place.”
(AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
He said: “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the three Israelis brutally murdered… We welcome efforts led by the Americans to re-start peace talks but no successful agreement will be reached until the PA ends its programme of inciting violence and murder of innocent Israelis.”
He added: “We call on the PA and the international community to unequivocally condemn this latest atrocity.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said work permits would be denied to all members of the gunman’s extended family and that his house, in the nearby village of Beit Surik, would be bulldozed.
Police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said Jamal “took advantage of the fact that he was coming in for work purposes or medical purposes,” while Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan said Israel would “re-asses” the work permit situation in the West Bank in the wake of the attack.
Attacks against Israelis and Jewish settlers had become less common in recent weeks, after an initial wave of violence beginning at the end of September 2015, following disturbances at Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
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