A Palestinian man who shot at a bus and a private car near Jerusalem’s Western Wall turned himself in on Sunday morning after a six-hour manhunt. The attacker has been identified as a resident of eastern Jerusalem in his mid-20s. The shooting attack took place at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, near David’s Tomb outside of the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City.
At least eight people were injured in the attack, two seriously, including four tourists visiting from the United States. A pregnant women, 35, was shot in the abdomen and her baby was delivered prematurely by emergency cesarean section.
The attacker was taken in for questioning. It is not known if he acted alone. The attack comes a week after Israel’s Operation Breaking Dawn, against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza. Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, called the shooting “a natural response to the occupation’s daily crimes against our people, our country and major Muslim and Christian sites.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement that: “All those who seek our harm should know that they will pay a price for any harm to our civilians. Jerusalem is our capital city and a tourist center for all religions; the police and the IDF are working to restore calm and a sense of security in the city. I send my wishes for a speedy recovery to those injured in the attack and stand by their worried families.”