ISIS Claims First Coordinated Attack in Jerusalem, One Police Officer Dead
The Islamic State has launched its first attack in Jerusalem, with the claim of responsibility almost immediately following an attack that left one Israeli police officer dead.
A coordinated shooting and stabbing attack near Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday evening resulted in the death of Border Police officer Hadas Malka, who was just 23.
Three Palestinians carried out the attack.
Malka was in formation with other officers when two Palestinians, one with a knife and the other with a sub-machine gun, attacked a different group of officers. The two men were repelled, shot, and killed. But as Malka rushed to the scene where the officers had been targeted, a third Palestinian moved forward and stabbed her. The third terrorist’s gun jammed. Police quickly took him out and then rushed Malka to the hospital for surgery.
Malka later died.
In total, four others were injured in the ISIS attacks.
Israeli security service Shin Bet listed the three attackers as Adel Ankush, Bra’a Salah and Asama Ahmed. All three had previously been involved in terror activities and all of them hailed from the West Bank.
Muslims are now marking the end of the third Friday of Ramadan, a month of fasting. During this time, Muslims traveling from Palestine to Jerusalem face far fewer security restrictions.
Jerusalem District’s Police Commander Yoram Halevy noted that more than 180,000 people had entered Jerusalem for Ramadan prayers.
No specific alerts led the police to believe an attack would occur, Halevy said.
“However we know what Jerusalem is. We are in the Ramadan period and we do not act according to alerts, we are on one big alert all the time,” he added.
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