At least three Israelis were wounded in a shooting attack outside of Beit El, north of Jerusalem, on Sunday morning, by an attacker who was identified as a police officer for the Palestinian Authority.
The three victims are listed in serious, moderate, and light condition, and all three have been evacuated to the hospital after receiving emergency treatment at the scene of the attack from Magen David Adom (MDA).
#BREAKING: 3 Israelis injured in a shooting attack by a #Palestinian near Beit El: 2 seriously. pic.twitter.com/GLEpmvI33I
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) January 31, 2016
Early reports state that the terrorist drove up in a car, exited the vehicle and opened fire. The assailant was shot and killed at the scene by IDF forces.
BREAKING PHOTOS: Palestinian terrorist shot dead after shooting and wounding 3 IDF soldiers near Beit El. pic.twitter.com/pHEE7T6q8c
— Israel News First (@IsraelNewsFirst) January 31, 2016
An MDA emergency paramedic on the scene reported that all three victims, men in their twenties, were conscious when the medical team arrived. The three were taken to Jerusalem hospitals. One victim was reported to be in serious condition, with a gunshot wound to the upper body; a second in moderate to serious condition, with a gunshot wound to a limb; and a third in light condition, also with a gunshot wound in a limb.
The shooting took place at a military checkpoint between Beit El, a Jewish community located in the Binyamin Region of Samaria, and Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli security forces confirmed that the gunman was a Palestinian Authority police officer and the driver of Ramallah’s chief prosecutor. He was identified as Amjad Sakri Abu Amar, 34.
Sakri indicated his intentions in a Facebook post shared a few hours prior to the attack in which he wrote, “May allah have mercy on our martyrs, heal our wounds and break the chains of our imprisonment. Our ancestors who were martyred before us we will join you, inshallah.”
A day previous to the attack, an American-Israeli teenager was stabbed and lightly injured by two Palestinian youths close to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City. The two assailants turned themselves in to Israeli police.
