The Israeli military says forces have shot dead a Palestinian gunman who opened fire at a West Bank checkpoint and wounded three people.
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Palestinian reports named the shooter as Amjad Sakari, 35, saying he was a member of the Palestinian Authority security forces who was working as a bodyguard for the Ramallah district attorney. One of the wounded is in serious condition, another is in moderate-serious condition and the third was lightly wounded. “Three Israelis were wounded and are being evacuated for emergency medical treatment in hospital”.
“Forces at the scene responded to the attack and shot the assailant, resulting in his death”, the IDF said in a statement. The auto had plates seeming to indicate it belonged to the Palestinian government and the gun used was also registered to the Palestinian Authority.
The attacker got out of his vehicle and opened fire near the Jewish settlement of Beit El.
Three Israelis were wounded in a shooting terror attack near Beit El on January 31, 2016.
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”.
The suspect, a 16-year-old from east Jerusalem, turned himself in to police once he realized that officers were on their way to arrest him.
Thirty Israelis and foreigners have been killed over the same period.
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Saturday’s violence is the latest in four months of near-daily Palestinian attacks on civilians and soldiers.
