Hamas members open fire in Jerusalem.

Hamas has admitted to carrying out the shooting in Jerusalem that killed three people, shortly after Israel and the group extended a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

In a statement issued hours after the shooting near a bus station in Jerusalem today, Hamas called it "a natural response to the unprecedented crimes of the Gaza Strip occupiers and against children in Jenin," the Israeli-controlled area of ​​the West Bank.

Israeli police said the attack was carried out by two suspects in a car, one carrying an M-16 rifle and the other a handgun. Video circulating on social media shows the two men getting out of a white car and firing at people waiting for a bus, before being shot dead by security personnel and bystanders at the scene.

Police also found ammunition and other weapons in their car, adding that the two men had previously been imprisoned by Israel. Hamas identified the two gunmen as brothers Murad Nemr, 38, and Ibrahim Nemr, 30, members of the group's armed wing in eastern Jerusalem.

The scene of the shooting in Jerusalem on November 30. Photo: AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the swift action of soldiers and civilians helped prevent a more serious attack. "My government will increase the distribution of weapons to the people," he said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said the shooting was an example of the "endless war" against armed groups like Hamas. Blinken called it a reminder of the threat that "Israelis face every day."

Violence has escalated in the West Bank since Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7 and Tel Aviv's retaliatory operation in the Gaza Strip. Two weeks ago, one Israeli soldier was killed and five wounded in an attack on a checkpoint at the entrance to the tunnel connecting the West Bank to Jerusalem. Israeli police shot dead all three attackers.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Location of Jerusalem. Graphic: BBC

Thanh Tam (According to AFP )

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/thanh-vien-hamas-xa-sung-o-jerusalem-4683321.html