Israeli troops shot dead civilian at scene of Jerusalem attack
Israeli troops who killed two Palestinian gunmen near Jerusalem on Thursday also shot dead an Israeli civilian at the scene, according to a report by Haaretz.
The Palestinian attackers killed three Israelis and wounded several others in a shooting at a bus station near an entrance to the city on Thursday.
The gunmen, two brothers from the Tzur Baher neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, were shot dead after two off-duty Israeli soldiers and a civilian fired at them.
Yuval Doron Kastelman, 38, the Israeli civilian who fired at the brothers, was later himself shot dead by Israeli forces.
He had been driving to work when he noticed the attack on the other side of the road, his family said. He got out a firearm and began shooting at the gunmen.
In a video shared on social media, Kastelman is seen raising his hands and pleading with Israeli troops not to fire on him, but he is shot in the stomach and falls to the ground.
He was rushed to hospital and later died of his wounds on Thursday evening. Israeli police said it was investigating the incident.
Israel’s Shin Bet security agency identified the Palestinian gunmen as Murad and Ibrahim Nemr, aged 38 and 30. The agency claims the men were affiliated with Hamas.
On 7 October, Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israeli communities which killed around 1,200 Israelis, most of whom were civilians.
In response, over 15,000 Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, the majority women and children, have been killed in a relentless bombing campaign by Israeli forces.
In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army and settlers have killed at least 229 Palestinians since the war began.
The Israeli government has ramped up handing out firearms to civilians since 7 October, with over 20,000 new licences to carry weapons issued since then.
In response to the Jerusalem attacks on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government will “continue to expand the distribution of weapons to citizens”.
At the site of the incident, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said: “This event proves again how we must not show weakness, that we must speak to Hamas only through [rifle] scopes, only through war.”
On Friday, a seven-day truce between Israel and Palestinian groups in Gaza came to an end, with hostilities having resumed immediately upon its expiry and dozens of Palestinians killed in the enclave.
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