Israeli authorities have arrested dozens of Palestinians after a shooting rampage in Jerusalem killed two people and wounded five, police said yesterday.
The arrests after Sunday’s attack included 31 Palestinians seeking to participate in celebrations in memory of the assailant, as well as members of his family in east Jerusalem, Israeli Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan told army radio.
About 15 other Palestinians were arrested for throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at security forces in east Jerusalem, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.
Photo: EPA
The arrests come after Sunday’s attack in which a 39-year-old Palestinian went on a shooting rampage in Jerusalem, opening fire from a car and again as police chased him.
Two Israelis were killed, including a police officer and a 60-year-old woman.
The attacker, Misbah Abu Sbeih from the Silwan area of east Jerusalem, was killed by police.
Palestinian media said Abu Sbeih was due to begin a four-month prison term on Sunday for attacking an Israeli police officer in 2013.
Israeli media yesterday reported that he used an M16 rifle issued by the Israeli military in the attack, although that had not been confirmed by authorities.
The shooting rampage comes at a time of increased Jewish visitors to the flash point al-Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem for the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, which was last week, and Yom Kippur, which begins tonight.
The same typically occurs for the Jewish Sukkot holiday next week.
Last year’s Jewish high holidays led to clashes and marked the start of an upsurge in Palestinian gun, knife and car-ramming attacks.
Violence since October last year has killed 232 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese national, according to an Agency France-Presse count. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out attacks, Israeli authorities say.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese