An attack occurred this morning in Jerusalem. Six people were killed and eleven were injured, some seriously, in a shooting attack at Ramot Junction, in the northern part of the city. This attack marks the border between the western part, legitimately governed by Israel, and the eastern part, occupied by Israel since 1967.
Two terrorists were killed by a soldier and a civilian, both ultra-Orthodox .
According to initial reports , the attackers boarded a bus on route 62 and opened fire . They were killed by a soldier who happened to be on the scene. The victims were a 60-year-old man, a 50-year-old woman, and three people in their 30s .
THE ISRAELI REACTION
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately called an emergency meeting with national security officials, then traveled to the site of the attack and postponed his testimony at his corruption trial. "We are pursuing and encircling the villages from which the terrorists came. We will reach all those who helped them, those who sent them," Netanyahu said. "The Shin Bet and the IDF have foiled hundreds of attacks this year, but unfortunately not this morning. I want to make this clear: these attacks do not weaken us. On the contrary, they increase our determination to complete the missions we have undertaken, whether in Gaza, the West Bank, or everywhere else ."
Far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich even called for the dismantling of the Palestinian National Authority after the attack : "The State of Israel cannot accept a Palestinian National Authority that raises and educates its children to kill Jews. The PA must disappear from the map, and the villages from which the terrorists come should resemble Rafah and Beit Hanoun (the towns in Gaza reduced to rubble in the war, ed.) ."
And Defense Minister Israel Katz has hinted that it's time to seize more territory in the West Bank . "The atrocious terrorist attack will have grave and far-reaching consequences. Just as we defeated Palestinian terrorism in northern Samaria (northern West Bank), we will soon do the same in other terrorist camps."
Hamas and the Palestinian National Authority
The two attackers were reportedly residents of two Palestinian villages in the West Bank , Kubiba and Katna, northwest of the Holy City. They did not have permits to enter Israel . Hamas called them heroes: "We bless this heroic operation, which is a natural response to the crimes of the occupation and the war of extermination that Israel is waging against our people." Hamas did not claim responsibility for the attack or claim responsibility for it, but called on Palestinians in the West Bank to "intensify the confrontation with the occupation and its settlers."
The PA instead condemned the attack : "The Palestinian Presidency of the PA reiterated its firm position in rejecting and condemning any attack against Palestinian and Israeli civilians and denounced all forms of violence and terrorism, regardless of their source," an official statement said. "The Presidency emphasized that security and stability in the region cannot be achieved without ending the occupation, halting acts of genocide in the Strip, and halting colonial terrorism throughout the West Bank , including occupied Jerusalem."
THE TESTIMONIALS
Channel 12 News interviewed the ambulance paramedic who arrived at the scene of the attack: "We arrived en masse as soon as we heard the report. Once there, we saw people lying unconscious on the side of the road and on the sidewalk near the bus stop. There is a lot of destruction at the scene, broken glass on the ground, and a lot of confusion. We have begun providing medical care to the injured and are continuing to treat them and transport them to the hospital ."
"I shot at the terrorists until I saw them stop moving," recounted the ultra-Orthodox commander of the Hasmonean Brigade, the soldier who, along with another man, neutralized the attackers. " I identified the two terrorists and opened fire on them until I saw them fall. From there, we moved in line. Then I emptied my weapon, distanced myself, and began treating the wounded." He then recounted applying a tourniquet to two women at the scene of the attack and, when the rescuers arrived, he returned to the spot where he had shot the terrorists. "I approached the police officers and said, 'Hello, I'm the one who neutralized them.'" The commander neutralized the terrorists along with a civilian, also Orthodox, like many of the residents of the Ramot neighborhood.
(Unioneonline/L)