Two seriously hurt in 2nd Jerusalem terror shooting; 13-year-old attacker shot
Victims identified as father and IDF officer son; pair shot close to Old City near Silwan neighborhood; shooter waited between cars, used handgun to fire at passing group
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Two men were shot and wounded in a terror attack outside Jerusalem’s Old City, police and medics said Saturday morning.
Police said the attacker was a 13-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem. He was shot and wounded by armed members of the group he attacked.
The Kan public broadcaster named the attacker as Muhammad Aliwat from Silwan.
Police said the victims were father and son. Their family has been informed that they were wounded.
The Israel Defense Forces later said the son was an off-duty officer in the Paratroopers Brigade and that the soldier had managed to shoot and hit the attacker despite his wounds.
MDA said its medics treated the pair on Ma’alot Ir David Street in the capital, close to the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, before taking them to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in the city.
البطل #محمد_عليوات البالغ من العمر 13 عامًا منفذ هجوم #عملية_سلوان والتي اسفرت عن اصابتين لمستوطنين اثنين احدهما بالغة .
وجد في دفتره مكتوب: "اللهم إما نصر أو شهادة ؛سامحني يا ماما ، ستفتخرِ بي"????#عملية_القدس pic.twitter.com/fBkSsg6qL3— مزون (@newsmazoon) January 28, 2023
The hospital said the victims, a man in his 20s and a 59-year-old man, were listed in serious but stable condition.
Both suffered gunshot wounds to their upper bodies, according to MDA and hospital officials.
Police said the 13-year-old terrorist arrived in the area armed and apparently carried out the attack alone.
In surveillance video from the scene he can be seen waiting behind some parked cars before opening fire toward a group of people.
He was shot by two armed members of the group, including the off-duty officer. The attacker was taken by medics for further medical treatment, but his condition was not immediately known.
The handgun used in the attack was seized, police said.
Gunfire could be heard in footage shared on social media.
???? متابعة صفا | اللحظات الأولى لتنفيذ عملية إطلاق النار في بلدة سلوان بالقدس والتي أسفرت عن إصابة مستوطنين اثنين pic.twitter.com/cSDwKxD5SU
— وكالة صفا (@SafaPs) January 28, 2023
The attack came hours after seven people were killed and three more were hurt in a shooting attack on Friday night in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood.
Police said Saturday that the national alert level was raised to the highest level, as security forces were bolstered across Israel and the West Bank in the wake of the deadly attack.
Police commissioner Kobi Shabtai ordered that a team of officers from the elite Yamam counterterrorism unit be stationed in Jerusalem following the two attacks.
Military chief Herzi Halevi issued instructions to increase forces in the West Bank and along its security barrier, and to prepare for a potential escalation in the region.
Friday’s deadly attack came following days of violence in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Tensions have increased dramatically since Thursday morning, when an Israel Defense Forces raid in the West Bank against a terrorist cell left nine Palestinians dead — most of them gunmen and members of the cell, though at least one civilian was also killed.
The IDF said Thursday’s operation in the Jenin refugee camp was necessary to foil imminent attack plans by a local Islamic Jihad terror cell. The group had primed explosives and firearms, according to the IDF.
Thursday overnight saw rocket fire from Palestinian terror groups in Gaza and Israeli retaliatory air strikes as both sides appeared intent on avoiding an escalation into a full-scale war.