Sunday morning’s shooting attack opposite King David’s Tomb right outside Jerusalem’s Old City will lead to a renewed wave of terrorism against Israel, Palestinian terrorist groups and political analysts said on Sunday.
The attack was carried out by Amir Sidawi, a resident of east Jerusalem who later surrendered himself to the police. Seven people were injured, two seriously, in the pre-dawn attack on Ma’ale HaShalom Street near Zion Gate.
Sources in east Jerusalem said it was not clear whether Sidawi, who has a criminal background, was affiliated with any terrorist group.
Several Palestinian groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, welcomed the shooting attack, describing it as a “heroic operation.”
The groups called on Palestinians to carry out more attacks against Israel.
The Palestinian Authority did not immediately comment on the attack.
Hamas's angle
Hamas welcomed the “heroic and courageous operation,” saying it was “a natural reaction to the arrogance of the occupation soldiers and settlers and their daily crimes against the Palestinian people and their Islamic and Christian lands and holy sites, as well as their ongoing and their ongoing incursions into al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement that the attack “affirms the continuation and escalation of the resistance in occupied Jerusalem, and that our Palestinian people are fully aware that the resistance is the only way to protect the land and the holy sites.”
Israeli security measures in Jerusalem will not weaken the Palestinians’ resolve or break their will, Barhoum said, but will “constitute the greatest motivation for the resistance to escalate and develop the tools of resistance” against Israel.
Another Hamas official, Yassin Rabi’a, said the attack proves that Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinians.
“Jerusalem will remain ours, and we will continue to fight until the liberation of our land, notwithstanding the cost and sacrifices,” Rabi’a threatened.
According to the Hamas official, the attack proves that the Palestinians are able to pursue the fight against Israel and inflict harm on it.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad reacts
Islamic Jihad spokesman Tareq Ezzadin said the attack came in the context of the “continuing resistance” against Israel.
“The occupation must pay the price for its continuing crimes against our people, from Gaza to Jenin and Nablus”
Tareq Ezzaddin, PIJ spokesperson
“The Jerusalem operation confirms that the occupation has no place on our land, and it will not feel safe as long as the resistance continues,” he said. “The occupation must pay the price for its continuing crimes against our people, from Gaza to Jenin and Nablus.”
Ezzadin hailed the timing of the attack, saying it came shortly after the recent war in the Gaza Strip (Operation Breaking Dawn), and the IDF security crackdown on armed groups and individuals in the northern West Bank.
He also said that Palestinians were ready to continue the confrontation with Israel.
“The resistance of our people continues in all forms and throughout the occupied Palestinian land”
Tareq Ezzaddin, PIJ spokesperson
The PLO applauds the attack
The PLO’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said the Jerusalem attack confirmed that “the resistance of our people continues in all forms and throughout the occupied Palestinian land.”
The PFLP said in a statement that the attack came “as a natural response from our people to the escalating crimes of the occupation.”
Other Palestinian terrorist groups said the attack dealt a “severe blow” to the Israeli security apparatus. They also pledged to step up terrorist attacks in the aftermath of the Jerusalem shooting.
Palestinian political analyst Sharhabeel al-Gharib was quoted by the Al-Watan Voice website as saying the attack was a “natural reflection of the continuation of the resistance in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”
The Jerusalem attack, he said, is considered “a blow to the Israeli security and military system in terms of timing and place, and it is a message that Israeli crimes only generate more responses.”
Gharib said he expected the attack to be “the first in a series of upcoming operations in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”
Another analyst, Adnan al-Sabah, was also quoted as predicting an upsurge in terrorist attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
“It is clear that we are once again headed toward the resumption of armed operations,” he opined. “The Palestinian people have lost confidence in everything. They have lost confidence in international legitimacy and international mediation. They have also lost confidence in the US and the Arabs.”