JERUSALEM — A gunman opened fire on Israelis in Jerusalem on Friday, killing one and wounding four. Police killed the assailant in what was the deadliest attack in the city in a year.
Israeli security forces responded to reports of the shooting at the Ammunition Hill tourist area by the holy site, located in eastern Jerusalem, and are still investigating the details of the attack.
Security forces stopped the gunman from getting any further away from the area of the shooting, Jerusalem’s police chief Roni Alsheich said.
The assailant, who was not a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was believed to be a militant from Gaza, and was wearing a shawl with Hamas inscribed on it, Alsheich said.
The shooting could have been linked to the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, and came the same day as Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned a recent stabbing of an Israeli officer in Jerusalem, and threatened retaliation.
Two Palestinians were shot dead on Wednesday at a checkpoint east of Jerusalem in clashes with Israeli security forces. Before that, seven Palestinians, including five attackers, have been killed since a demonstration in east Jerusalem on July 12.
Protests erupted anew in east Jerusalem this week after four Israelis, including an 11-year-old girl, were stabbed in a popular shop in the Old City.
Violence between Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem has spiked over the past month, and at least 43 Palestinians have been killed. Israeli forces have killed 53 Israelis during the same period.
Jerusalem has been the flashpoint of much of the violence over the past three years, following the decision by Israel to unilaterally move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as the capital of their future state. Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its capital.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.