Palestinian gunman kills woman Israeli soldier in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM — A Palestinian opened fire on an Israeli military checkpoint in east Jerusalem on Saturday night, killing a female Israeli soldier and wounding three other people, Israeli authorities said.
The attack came hours after a pair of Palestinian teenagers were killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.
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It was the latest bloodshed in the deadliest round of fighting in the area in seven years. It also came less than 24 hours before Israel was to begin celebrating the weeklong Sukkot holiday, a time when tens of thousands of Jews visit the holy city.
Saturday night’s shooting occurred at a checkpoint near the Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem. Police said the assailant got out of a car and opened fire, seriously wounding the female soldier and a security guard before running into the camp. The army announced early Sunday that the woman, who was 19, had died.
Police said two members of the paramilitary border police unit were lightly wounded by shrapnel.
Police said they were searching for the attacker, with special forces and a helicopter involved in the search. Police said early Sunday that they arrested one person on suspicion of involvement in the attack, but were continuing the manhunt.
“Our hearts tonight are with the wounded and their families,” said Prime Minister Yair Lapid. “Terrorism will not defeat us. We are also strong on this difficult evening.”
Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed the area in a move that is not recognized internationally. It considers the entire city, including east Jerusalem, home to the city’s most important holy sites, to be its capital. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
Israel already has been carrying out daily arrest raids in the occupied West Bank since a series of deadly Palestinian attacks inside Israel. Most of the military activity has been focused in the Palestinian cities of Jenin and Nablus in the northern West Bank.
Earlier Saturday, the Israeli military shot and killed two Palestinian teens during an arrest raid in the Jenin refugee camp, the site of repeated clashes between Israeli forces and local gunmen and residents. The camp is known as a stronghold of Palestinian militants.
Palestinian officials said soldiers entered the camp early Saturday and surrounded a house. In videos circulated on social media, exchanges of fire could be heard.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported two dead and 11 wounded, three of them critically.
