UN envoy: ‘Nothing can justify’ Jerusalem shooting

Nickolay Mladenov slams ‘deplorable’ glorification of attack by Hamas, saying it undermines possibility for a peaceful future

Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.

UN Special Coordinator Nikolay Mladenov, February 9, 2015. (CC BY-SA Ottokars, Wikipedia)
UN Special Coordinator Nikolay Mladenov, February 9, 2015. (CC BY-SA Ottokars, Wikipedia)

The United Nations’ peace envoy to the region denounced Sunday’s deadly shooting by a Palestinian gunman in Jerusalem, calling it a “terror attack” and censuring Hamas for encouraging such assaults.

US Ambassador Dan Shapiro and Australian Ambassador Dave Sharma similarly condemned the shooting.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov issued a statement following the shooting, in which a woman and a policeman were killed and six others injured after the terrorist sprayed bullets at passersby from a moving car. The shooter, whose identity was under a gag order, was shot dead by police. Hamas claimed the man was one of their members.

“I condemn this morning’s terror attack by a Palestinian perpetrator in occupied East Jerusalem which killed two Israelis and injured six others,” Mladenov wrote. “Nothing can justify such attacks. My thoughts are with the families and friends of all victims and I hope for a full and speedy recovery of the wounded.”

“It is deplorable and unacceptable that Hamas and others choose to glorify such acts which undermine the possibility of a peaceful future for both Palestinians and Israelis,” he added.

Israeli security forces cordon off the site of a shooting attack near police headquarters in Jerusalem on October 9, 2016. (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)
Israeli security forces cordon off the site of a shooting attack near police headquarters in Jerusalem on October 9, 2016. (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)

The gunman opened fire at a group of people waiting at a light rail stop on Haim Bar-Lev Street, hitting one woman before speeding off toward Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau Street where he shot and fatally wounded another woman, 60, who was in her car.

After opening fire on civilians twice, the assailant continued toward the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where he was killed in a shootout with police.

The woman shot in her car and a police officer who helped lead the charge to stop him later succumbed to their injuries, a hospital spokesperson said.

UK Minister Tobias Ellwood on June 24, 2009. (Youtube Screenshot)
UK Minister Tobias Ellwood on June 24, 2009. (Youtube Screenshot)

British Minister for the Middle East and Africa Tobias Ellwood posted a Twitter message saying he “utterly condemn[s] the attacks in #Jerusalem. My thoughts are with victims and their families.”

US ambassador Shapiro tweeted his denunciation of the attack: “strongly condemn today’s terrorist attack in Jerusalem. No possible justification. Condolences to the families of the 2 murder victims,” adding the suffix “Z”L,” an English transliteration of the Hebrew acronym for “Of blessed memory.”

http://twitter.com/AmbShapiro/status/785098480587005952

Australian envoy Sharma posted a message to his Twitter account: “Condolences to families of 2 female victims, both killed in sickening Jerusalem terror attack. Condemn unreservedly.”

The Palestinian terrorist who carried out the morning attack was supposed to have turned himself in to prison at that precise time, Ma’an news reported.

He was identified as a 39-year-old man from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. His name was restricted under a police gag order.

An Israeli medic attends to a woman at the site of a shooting attack in on October 9, 2016. (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)
An Israeli medic attends to a woman at the site of a shooting attack in on October 9, 2016. (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)

In 2013, the gunman was indicted for assaulting a police officer in Jerusalem’s Old City. The case was dropped that year, but it was reopened in 2015.

The East Jerusalem resident was convicted and sentenced to four months in prison.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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