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One killed, four injured in Kiryat Arba attack

Jerusalem24 – One Israeli settler was killed, and 4 others were injured, including a Palestinian paramedic, during a shooting attack in the vicinity of the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank on Saturday night.

The shooter, who was identified as 34-year-old Mohammad Al-Jabari, was run over, shot, and killed by Israeli guards at the site.

Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency response service initially reported five wounded, including a 60-year-old Israeli man left “unconscious with an injury to his upper body”.

A spokesperson for Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center told AFP that the man had later died of his wounds.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that a Palestinian ambulance officer was injured after Israeli forces targeted a PRC ambulance. The ambulance officer, Ahmed Abu Khaled was hit with a bullet in the shoulder and then transferred to Al-Ahly Hospital in Hebron.

Israeli media reported on Sunday that an Israeli army preliminary investigation into the Kiryat Arba attack revealed that the perpetrator of the attack arrived in his vehicle at a Palestinian grocery store where Israeli settlers shop near the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba, then waited for the settlers to leave the store, and proceeded to fire at the back seat of the vehicle.

The investigation stated that a settler was seriously injured and later died of his wounds, while his son, who was also in the vehicle and was moderately injured, ran back to the grocery store and asked for help.

“The perpetrator left the scene with his vehicle and returned after eight minutes on foot and opened fire again on the Israeli forces and the ambulance who were at the scene, seriously wounding a soldier and paramedic, Ofer Ohana.”

The Israeli army initially claimed that a search operation was underway for an additional suspect.

Far-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose hardline Zionist alliance is seeking major gains in Tuesday’s elections, claimed on Twitter that his home in Hebron was the target.

However, the Israeli media quoted security sources as saying that Ben-Gvir’s house, located inside the illegal settlement, was not targeted.

The Israeli army also did not appear to confirm Ben-Gvir’s claim.

Armed Paramedic

Over the past two decades, Hebron and its old city have became settled by groups and communities of extremist Jewish settlers.

Among the injuries of the Kiryat Arba attack was the infamous Israeli settler, Ofer Ohana, who is known for his constant incitement against Palestinians in Hebron.

Ohana’s condition was initially reported as severe.

Palestinian media reported that Ohana volunteered in the ranks of the Israeli ambulance teams years ago.

Palestinian activists who work in Hebron and its surroundings said that Ohana refrained from providing medical treatment to Palestinians who were shot by Israeli forces, leaving them to bleed to death.

In 2021, Ohana shot dead 34-year-old Palestinian mother of five, Wafaa Abdel Rahman, near the entrance to the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba.

Israeli settlers who kill Palestinians in documented cases are almost never arrested or prosecuted. Abdul Rahman’s family never filed a suit against Ohana.

In 2016, Ohana was accused of deliberately throwing a knife next to the body of Abdel Fattah Al-Sharif, who was shot in the head by Israeli soldier Elor Azaria while lying on the ground after he and another youth allegedly stabbed and moderately wounded a soldier in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron’s Old City in the occupied West Bank.

Al-Sharif was lying on the ground, injured and immobilized when Azarya fired at his head.

The other youth, Ramzi Aziz al-Qasrawi, also 21, was shot dead by another soldier.

Nadeen Alshaer

Alshaer is a Palestinian journalist, a Birzeit University graduate with a B.A. in TV and Radio Broadcasting Journalism. Alshaer has 6 years of experience in journalism. She currently works as a reporter, editor and presenter/producer for PBC-Palestine TV and Jerusalem24 radio. She’s a UN and Kelley School of Business alumna.

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