Attack in Jerusalem, three Israelis killed: Hamas claims responsibility

Three Israeli citizens died and eight others were injured in an attack that occurred this morning in Jerusalem .

The gun attack took place at the tram stop at the entrance to the city, on Weizman Boulevard. The two attackers, two Palestinians from East Jerusalem, arrived by car: they got out of the car and opened fire while holding an M-16 rifle and a pistol . They were both killed thanks to the immediate intervention of two soldiers who were on site and a civilian.

The Israeli victims are two women aged 24 and 67 (the first pregnant) and a 73-year-old rabbi , four of the injured are in serious condition, reported the director of Magend David Adom (local equivalent of the Red Cross) Eli Bin.

The attack was claimed by Hamas , which in the statement called for "an escalation of resistance" against Israel. « This operation is a natural response to the unprecedented crimes of the occupier in the Gaza Strip and against children in Jenin ».

«Hamas activists organized the attack. Hamas - said the Minister for National Security Itamar ben Gvir - speaks to us with two voices: one is that of truces, the other is that of terrorism.' 'We must not show any weakness. With Hamas we must only dialogue through crosshairs and through war."

In response, Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the government " will continue to expand the distribution of weapons to civilians , as this is a measure that has repeatedly proven necessary in the war against terrorism." Speaking with Blinken, the Israeli prime minister confirmed that the war will continue: « We will eliminate Hamas. This is the same Hamas. The same Hamas that carried out the terrible massacre of October 7th and the same Hamas that tries to kill us everywhere. We will continue this war until we achieve our goals ."

The two attackers were identified as Murad Nimer (38 years old) and Ibrahim Nimer (30 years old) , residents of the Tsur Baher neighborhood in East Jerusalem and holders of Israeli identity cards. Both are linked to Hamas: hundreds of bullets were found in their car, according to the Israeli security forces they were planning a larger attack .

Just this morning an agreement was reached for an extension of the truce by another 24 hours.

(Unioneonline/L)