Off-duty policeman shot and neutralized the assailant, a construction worker, in the Judean city of Ma’ale Adumim.
By World Israel News Staff
Six Israelis were wounded on Tuesday in a terrorist attack near a mall in Ma’ale Adumim, located seven kilometers (4.3 miles) east of Jerusalem in Judea.
The Palestinian assailant, reportedly armed with an M-16 rifle, was shot by an off-duty Border Policeman and died. He reportedly had been working on a nearby construction site before perpetrating the attack.
“The terrorist is a Palestinian who is here with a work permit,” Benny Kashriel, mayor of Ma’ale Adumim, told Channel 14: “He has been working in cleaning for several years. We are checking with the police as to how he obtained the weapon.”
According to MDA EMT David Turjeman, “When we arrived on scene we saw two males near the mall, fully conscious with gunshot wounds to their bodies. We provided initial medical treatment including stopping the bleeding, and they were evacuated in moderate but stable condition to hospital.
“We received further reports of another two victims at a nearby location. Further MDA teams also on scene provided treatment to a 40-year-old male in serious condition and a 28-year-old male in moderate condition.”
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Meir Bogot said: “When I arrived at the scene, I found several people who were injured with gunshot wounds. Together with additional first responders, I provided them with initial treatment which included bleeding control and bandaging, after which they were all transported to the hospital.
“Due to the nature of the incident, the Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit is also active at the location.”
“We commend the heroic commando operation that was carried out by a heroic Palestinian resistance fighter in the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement built on our occupied land, east of Jerusalem,” the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group said in a statement.
Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanou stated: “The strikes of the revolutionaries and resistance fighters will not stop in defense of our land and sanctities and to thwart the settler government’s plan to build the alleged Temple on the ruins of Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were briefed on the incident.
Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai was touring the scene.
Palestinian terror attacks are at an all-time high. In the first six months of 2023, the emergency service recorded 3,640 acts of terror throughout Israel, including 2,118 cases of rock-throwing, 799 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 18 attempted stabbings and six car-rammings.
JNS contributed to this report.