Two Israeli policemen murdered by terrorist
Two police officers were murdered and a third is in hospital in serious condition following a terror attack by three Arabs from Um Al Fahum in the area of the Temple Mount.
Karl Gustav and a pistol that belonged to the terrorists
Karl Gustav and a pistol that belonged to the terrorists FA
The terrorists were armed with firearms (Karl Gustav and a pistol) as well as knives. They opened fire at a group of police officers at the Lions’ Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City and then fled back towards one of the mosques in the Temple Mount complex, trying to take refuge inside the mosques. The three attackers were shot and killed by police.
On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by telephone with Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen, who condemned the terrorist attack on the Temple Mount. The Prime Minister made it clear that Israel would take all necessary actions to maintain security on the Temple Mount, without changing the status quo.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Before the onset of Shabbat I spoke with the parents of our two heroic policemen who were murdered on the Temple Mount. I sent them a hug from every citizen of Israel and participation in their awful grief. Also before Shabbat I directed that the mourners’ tents of the families of the contemptible murderers be destroyed. This evening I held a discussion with the top security leadership and I instructed that metal detectors be placed at the entrance gates to the Temple Mount. We will also install security cameras on poles outside the Temple Mount but which give almost complete control over what goes on there. I decided that as of tomorrow, in the framework of our policy of maintaining the status-quo, we will gradually open the Temple Mount, but with increased security measures.
This evening I am leaving for Paris to meet with President Macron. Tomorrow we will participate in a very moving ceremony to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the deportation of Parisian Jews to the extermination camps. This was the first step in the broad extermination of French Jewry. I will then go on to Budapest to meet with Hungarian, Polish, Czech and Slovakian leaders. While we are strengthening ties with countries on five continents – Asia, Africa, Australia, North America and South America, it is very important for us to also deepen relations with countries in Europe.”
A spokesperson for ZAKA said: “Following the terror shooting attack that took place near the Lion’s Gate in Jerusalem in which two Israeli Druze policemen were shot and killed and the three terrorists killed in the ensuing gun battle on the Temple Mount compound, ZAKA volunteers found themselves in a difficult situation.Not only were they on the scene to carry out their sacred work at the site where the two Israeli Druze policemen were killed, but they were also required to assist the Israel Police in evacuating the bodies of the three terrorists at the second site – on the Temple Mount complex where access is forbidden to religious Jews.
After consultation with the ZAKA Rabbinical Council in order to work within Jewish law, two ZAKA volunteers immersed in the mikve (ritual bath) and removed their shoes, before entering the holy site. Other ZAKA volunteers, led by ZAKA Jerusalem Commander Bentzi Oering, waited outside the Temple Mount compound to complete their work and evacuate the bodies in ZAKA ambulances.
ZAKA Chairman Yehuda Meshi-Zahav noted the difficulties that ZAKA volunteers face at every terror attack, in dealing with the bodies of the terrorists, alongside those of their victims. “This is the greatness of ZAKA – our volunteers treat the deceased regardless of religion, race or nationality. As it is written: Man was created in the image of God. It is not written Jew or Gentile, rather that every man was created in His image. There are incidents, like today, that lead to the absurd situation where we deal with the bodies of the victims and the terrorists, albeit with teeth gritted. In terms of the halacha (Jewish law), the bodies of terrorists and murderers must also be handled with respect and sent for burial. The only difference we make is with the use of black body bags for the murderers, rather than the white ZAKA body bags for the victims.”
The police need to be more vigilant. In the video on TV one policeman as sitting on a chain around the corner and out of view of were the shooters came from and the other policeman was in the ally facing the seated policeman and not looking up and down the ally.