While Israel upheld the ceasefire for the sixth day, the terrorist group Hamas carried out a deadly shooting attack in Jerusalem that killed three Israelis and injured eleven others.
The attack took place during the Thursday morning rush hour when two Hamas terrorists, one of them armed with a M16 rifle, opened fire at vehicles and passersby on a busy West Jerusalem junction. The terrorists were subdued by the security forces and an armed civilian, killing one terrorist and injuring another.
The victims of the terror attack were identified as Rabbi Elimelech Wasserman (70), Chana Ifergen (60), and Livia Dickman (24).
The terrorists were known members of Hamas, who had previously been imprisoned on terrorism charges. “The two terrorists who carried out the deadly attack in Jerusalem on Thursday morning were identified as brothers from east Jerusalem who have known associations with Hamas, according to a Shin Bet statement,” the Jerusalem Post confirmed. “They were both imprisoned for terrorist activities in the past.”
The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported:
Three Israelis were murdered Thursday morning, when two terrorists opened fire from their car at Givat Shaul junction, near the entrance to Jerusalem.A 24-year-old woman was declared dead at the scene. Shortly thereafter a 73-year-old man was declared dead. A third victim, a 60-year-old woman was pronounced dead shortly after 9 am local time. Eleven additional people were wounded, five of them seriously, and were evacuated to Jerusalem area hospitals Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Hadassah Ein Kerem.Terrorists opened fire at civilians standing at a bus stop using an automatic weapon and a handgun. Nearby security forces and a civilian responded to the attack. One of the terrorists was reportedly shot and in serious condition and the second one eliminated. (…)According to Hebrew media, one of the responders to the scene was a soldier on leave from serving in Gaza who was on his way back to the frontline. In video footage from the attack, he can be scene emerging from a car with his weapon and running toward the terrorists.
In the West Bank, a Palestinian terrorist rammed his car into Israeli troops, slightly injuring two soldiers, Israeli media reported Thursday afternoon.
The Times of Israel reported the West Bank ramming:
The Israel Defense Forces says troops shot a Palestinian driver who rammed into reservists at a military checkpoint in the Jordan Valley.Two soldiers are lightly hurt in the incident, which the IDF says was a deliberate attack.The IDF says troops are scanning the area for potential additional suspects.
While the Biden administration and Western countries are pressuring Israel to extend the ceasefire and scale down the military operation in Gaza, Hamas is using the truce to regroup and carry out attacks against Israel. The shooting attack in Jerusalem comes a day after Hamas violated the ceasefire in Gaza by planting multiple explosives and opening fire on Israeli troops, injuring several IDF soldiers.
Despite truce violations by Hamas, Israelis extended the ceasefire for the seventh day as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national unity government seeks the release of more hostages from the jaws of Hamas.
The Israeli broadcaster Arutz Sheva reported:
Israel on Thursday morning confirmed that it had received a list of women and children to be released, which meets the criteria of the ceasefire agreements of the past six days.The list includes eight women and children instead of ten, after Hamas claimed that the two Russian-Israelis released as a gesture to Russian President Vladimir Putin came at the expense of two Israeli hostages.Later reports said that Hamas is expected to return the bodies of three hostages, in addition to the eight living hostages.The Prime Minister’s Office responded: “The War Cabinet decided unanimously last night that if by seven in the morning we had not received a list that meets the criteria in the agreement, the fighting will immediately be renewed. This morning Israel received a list of women and children in accordance with the conditions of the agreement, and so the break in fighting will continue.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu and members of his war cabinet promised to resume the IDF counter-terrorism operations once the hostages are released as part of the ongoing deal.
The release of nearly 100 Israeli and foreign hostages has so far been secured in return for roughly double that number of Palestinian convicts, mostly murderers and terrorists. Some 140 hostages are still believed to be in the hands of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other Gaza-based terrorist groups.
The Times of Israel reported:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Wednesday that the war to destroy terror group Hamas will resume as soon as an ongoing process to secure the release of hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip comes to an end.His vow to continue the fight was echoed by the other two members of the war cabinet, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz, as well as by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, who all issued statements of readiness to immediately progress with the military campaign.Meanwhile, with talks underway to potentially extend the current deal beyond Wednesday for another two or more days, an official from the Prime Minister’s Office said Israel will push for all children and civilian women hostages to be released through the current ceasefire deal before broadening negotiations to free adult male and soldier hostages.Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after it carried out a massive cross-border terror attack last month, invading from the Gaza Strip and slaughtering over 1,200 people in southern Israel, mostly civilians. Terrorists also abducted at least 240 as hostages.
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