In today's second incident, a 19-year-old Arab shot and killed a Bezeq phone company employee as he sat in a company van near the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's Old City. At around 11:30 AM, the suspect approached the van and leaned into the car firing several rounds from a pistol, killing the Israeli. A gunbattle erupted between the terrorist and Border Police stationed nearby. An Arab passerby was killed in the shootout and 17 others were wounded before police succeeded in killing the gunman. The injured were taken to area hospitals. Two are listed in serious condition, and the rest sustained light wounds. Yasser Arafat's al-Aksa terror Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack.
Boston resident Chris Williams, who is currently touring in Israel, told Israel Radio that he was eating in a nearby restaurant with friends when he saw the Arab gunman approach the the Bezeq van. "I saw a person with a pistol lean into the van and put a gun to someone's head. We turned around and started to run away, and less than a second later we heard two or three gunshots. We then ducked into some stores and heard a lot of automatic gunfire."
Following the attack government spokesman Ra'anan Gissin told Fox News Israel bureau chief Jennifer Griffin, that "Today's attacks are not just sporadic attacks…this is not just a 'bloody Sunday'…We're fighting a war launched upon us with a new method that no other army in the world has encountered - suicide and homicide bombings - today is just another case in point… While Hamas, an organization that must be dismantled, carries out terrorist activity against us, the responsibility and the guilt lies with the Palestinian Authority… The PA instigates and incites… Institutional incitement is the root cause of all these attacks. There's only one solution: to replace the PA with a different leadership that will cater to the needs of the Palestinian people."
Boston resident Chris Williams, who is currently touring in Israel, told Israel Radio that he was eating in a nearby restaurant with friends when he saw the Arab gunman approach the the Bezeq van. "I saw a person with a pistol lean into the van and put a gun to someone's head. We turned around and started to run away, and less than a second later we heard two or three gunshots. We then ducked into some stores and heard a lot of automatic gunfire."
Following the attack government spokesman Ra'anan Gissin told Fox News Israel bureau chief Jennifer Griffin, that "Today's attacks are not just sporadic attacks…this is not just a 'bloody Sunday'…We're fighting a war launched upon us with a new method that no other army in the world has encountered - suicide and homicide bombings - today is just another case in point… While Hamas, an organization that must be dismantled, carries out terrorist activity against us, the responsibility and the guilt lies with the Palestinian Authority… The PA instigates and incites… Institutional incitement is the root cause of all these attacks. There's only one solution: to replace the PA with a different leadership that will cater to the needs of the Palestinian people."