Terror Attacks in Jerusalem // FAI ONLINE

Seven Jewish civilians are dead and five others wounded in two separate terrorist attacks in Jerusalem over Shabbat weekend. The attacks were allegedly in response to a deadly Israeli military operation in the West Bank on Thursday which resulted in a firefight with Palestinian terrorists.

On Friday night, a 21-year-old Palestinian man jumped out of a vehicle in the Jewish neighborhood of Neve Yaakov in West Jerusalem and shot two people on the street with a pistol, including an elderly woman, before running to a nearby synagogue to shoot eight more worshippers during Shabbat service. The gunman returned to his vehicle and drove to the nearby Arab neighborhood of Beit Hanina, where he was confronted by Israeli police. After firing on police, the gunman was shot to death. Seven victims died, while three others were transported to hospital with gunshot wounds.

Then Saturday, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy shot two Israeli men near the City of David in East Jerusalem, wounding both critically. The boy was subdued and arrested. The two victims are currently in serious but stable condition. Both shooting incidents combine to make this weekend the bloodiest for Jerusalem’s Jews in more than a year, punctuated by the fact that Friday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu visited the site of the Neve Yaakov shooting shortly afterwards to show solidarity with the district’s residents and worshippers, while large crowds of Palestinians celebrated the deadly attacks in the streets across East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza with chanting, sweets, and fireworks.

The Jerusalem attacks came a day after an IDF operation in the West Bank city of Jenin turned deadly, as Israeli troops were fired upon while approaching the known safehouse of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operatives. Israeli security services had been monitoring a cell of Hamas and PIJ operatives in Jenin’s crowded “refugee camp” before deciding to conduct an unusual daytime raid, indicating their assessment that the militants were preparing an imminent attack. Four members of Hamas were killed in the ensuing firefight, as well as two members of PIJ and one member of the Fatah movement’s al-Aqsa Marty’s Brigade. Two civilians were also killed in the crossfire, including an elderly woman.

The shootout in Jenin prompted a war of words between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) later Thursday. An Israeli officer clarified that the IDF unit was acting upon “accurate intelligence” regarding an imminent terrorist attack involving the targeted PIJ cell in Jenin, describing the situation as “a ticking time bomb” and claiming that the targeted militants “have been involved in recent extensive terror activity, and are suspected of carrying out several shooting attacks against IDF forces, and planning other significant attacks.” The office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmood Abbas announced that the PA would immediately suspend security cooperation with Israel for the first time in almost three years.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced a Mideast peace trip on Friday, promising to visit Israeli, Palestinian, and Egyptian leaders in an effort to deescalate tensions. So far this year, 30 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, most of them militants, in what has become a growing trend of violence in the Palestinian territories. Just five years ago, the city of Jenin was considered one of the most peaceful in the West Bank, with only a small IDF contingent there, and regular cross-border traffic of laborers and shoppers to nearby Israeli cities such as Nazareth. Today, Jenin is a hotbed of jihadist organizations, including Hamas, PIJ and al-Aqsa Martyr’s, as the various militant factions have begun working together. Hamas and PIJ began building their base of support in the West Bank after their stronghold in the Gaza Strip was contained by the IDF and traditional methods of terror attacks, such as rockets, tunnels and incendiary balloons, have been neutralized by Israeli defense technology.

We implore the Maranatha global family to continue in intercession for the people of Israel and the West Bank. We pray for God to shine a light of truth, clarity, and sobriety on a very muddled and complex conflict. We pray for wisdom to be granted to Israeli and international leaders in addressing the growing crisis, and as always, we pray that Good News of the Hope of Israel would spread throughout the Land of Promise.

Maranatha.