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| {{Infobox terrorist attack | {{Infobox terrorist attack | ||
| |title=Lions' Gate stabbing | |title=Lions' Gate stabbing | ||
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Revision as of 17:28, 12 October 2015
| Lions' Gate stabbing | |
|---|---|
| Location | Jerusalem |
| Date | 3 October 2015 |
| Attack type | stabbing |
| Deaths | 2 (plus 1 attacker) |
| Injured | 2 |
| Perpetrators | Muhanad Shafeq Halabi |
On 3 October 2015 a Palestinian resident of al-Bireh attacked the Benita family near the Lions' Gate in Jerusalem, as they were on their way to the Western Wall to pray. The attacker murdered Aaron Benita, the father of the family, and injured the mother Adele and their 2-year-old son Matan. Nehemia Lavi, a resident who heard screams and came to help was also murdered and his gun taken by the assailant. The attacker, 19 year old Muhanad Shafeq Halabi was shot and killed by police as he was firing on pedestrians.
Adele described Arab residents standing by and laughing as she was attacked, and telling her to "die" when she pleaded for help for her son.
This attack and another stabbing attack, both of which took place during a religious festival that draws many Jews to the holy places in Jerusalem, resulted in Israeli authorities temporarily barring Arab residents of East Jerusalem from entering the walled Old City.
Background
The attack came during a spate of unrest regarded by the Guardian as having begun in mid-September when a number of Palestinians "repeatedly barricaded themselves inside the al-Aqsa mosque and hurled stones, firebombs and fireworks at the police." This series of attacks against Israeli Jews notable for consisting of what are being called "grassroots" attacks involving the throwing of Molotov cocktails and rocks, and Lone wolf terrorism, involving stabbings and Vehicular assault as a terrorist tactic, in a period when terror attacks sponsored by organizations has declined. This period has also seen the increasing prevalence of Jewish "price tag" operations, such as the arson attack that murdered three members of the Dawabsheh family in the West Bank village of Duma about two months ago.
According to The Guardian, many analysts regard the issue of access to what is known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, and to Jews as the Temple Mount, as key to the recent increase in tension in Jerusalem. A campaign by some fundamentalist Jews and their supporters, with the backing of some members of the Israeli cabinet, demanding greater rights for Jewish worship at the site has raised the suspicion, despite repeated Israeli denials, that Israel intends to change the 'precarious status quo' for the site.
3 October Stabbing
Aaron and Adele Benita and their two small children in strollers, were on their way to the Western Wall to pray, when 19 year old Muhanad Shafeq Halabi from Al-Bireh started attacking and stabbing them, killing Aaron, critically wounding Adele and wounding 2 year old Matan, then stabbed Rabbi Nehemia Lavie who, hearing them scream for help, ran out of his house and tried to help them. During the assault, the attacker took a pistol from Lavie, and fired at pedestrians, until he was shot and killed by a police officer who had rushed to the scene.
Adele Benita described the horror of being stabbed, trying to help her husband, and scraming for help while, "There were lots of Arabs around looking ... laughing and smiling..." As she ran pas them to find help, Arab onlookers "spat at me and slapped me in the face. While the knife was still stuck in me they slapped me and laughed at me."
Victims
The dead are Aharon Benita, 21, and Nehemia Lavie, 41, who attempted to come to the couple's rescue.
Lavie was a rabbi and military reserve officer who has lived for 23 years in the street where he was stabbed to death. The Lavies are one of about 70 Jewish families who live outside the Jewish quarter of the old city, mostly in the Muslim Quarter, which used to be a mixed neighborhood until the 1929 Palestine riots. Like the Lavies, most of these families live in the Muslim Quarter, an area that includes the Little Western Wall, the egress form the Western Wall Tunnels, and the start of the Via Dolorosa.
Adele Banita and her small son were injured, Adele wounded seriously with stab wounds. Visiting Mrs. Benita in hospital along with Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Let’s make this clear,"... "just as we’ve smashed previous waves of terrorism, we will also smash this wave of terrorism."
Assailant
The attacker was Muhannad Halabi, 19. He was a resident of East Jerusalem and a law student at Al Quds University. He wrote on his Facebook page, "What's happening to our holy places? What's happening to our mothers and sisters in the Al-Aqsa mosque? We are not the people who accept humiliation. Our people will revolt." And, "the third intifada has begun".
Copycat attacks
This widely publicized attack is understood to have "quickly sparked a spate of [[similar assaults" and other forms of anti-Israel violence across the country.
Subsequent October stabbings at the Lions Gate
On 4 October a male Palestinian teenager attacked 15-year-old Israeli Moshe Malka with a knife, wounding him before being shot and killed by police. The attacker was identified by relatives as Fadi Alloun, 19. Before attacking, he posted on his Facebook page: "Either martyrdom or victory."
On 6 October, an 18-year-old woman attacked an Israeli man with a knife near the Lions' Gate. The victim was able to draw his gun and shoot his attacker. Both were hospitalized; Both were expected to live.
On 12 October an Arab man approaching the Gate from the cemeteries outside the walls was asked to remove his hands from his pockets by police. He pulled out a knife and attacked the police officer, fellow officers quickly shot the assailant. The officer who was attacked was saved from harm harm by his bulletproof vest.
Response
Israel: Israelis PM Benjamin Netanyahu said: "They want a third intifada? They’ll get a second Defensive Shield".
United Nations: special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolay Mladenov stated, ""I condemn the brutal terror attack that killed two Israelis in Jerusalem, call on all to stand firm against incitement, prevent escalation."- United Nations:United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement: "The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms the attacks on Saturday, 3 October in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the killing of two members of an Israeli family and injuries to Israelis and Palestinians in subsequent incidents in various neighborhoods in Jerusalem."
United States's State Department said :"We call for all perpetrators of violence to be swiftly brought to justice, we are concerned about mounting tensions in the West Bank and Jerusalem, including the Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount, and call on all sides to take affirmative steps to restore calm and avoid escalating the situation."
Palestinian Authority spokesman Ihab Bseiso said: "The only solution is the end of the Israeli occupation of our occupied Palestinian land and the establishment of our independent state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital."
Impact
In response to the 3 October Lions' Gate stabbing, and to other recent attacks, in particular, to a stabbing attack in the early hours of 4 October in which a Palestinian teenager attacked a 15-year-old Israeli with a knife, wounding him before he, the assailant, was shot and killed by police. The attacker was identified by relatives as Fadi Alloun, 19. Before attacking, he posted on his Facebook page: "Either martyrdom or victory."
Because of these and other recent attacks, the Israeli government temporarily barred Palestinians from entering the walled Old City of Jerusalem. The ban will be effective for two days, during the Jewish holy days of Sukkot when many Jews make pilgrimages to the city's holy places. Palestinians who live, study or work in the Old City are exempted form the ban.
Israeli security "flooded" the streets of the Old City following the first stabbing attack, according to a report in Haaretz, whilst dozens demonstrated near the Al-Aqsa mosque in protest at the restrictions before Israeli forces dispersed the demonstration. Several were injured due to smoke inhalation.
Business owners in the Muslim Quarter and schools in East Jerusalem declared a strike.
References
- Shuttleworth, Kate (October 8, 2015). "Palestinians killed and Israelis stabbed in another day of violence". The Guardian. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- Ben-David, Alon (October 4, 2015). "Analysis: The dramatic rise of 'grassroots' terror in Jerusalem and the West Bank". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ Pfeffer, Anshel (October 4, 2015). "Analysis: Has the Third Intifada Begun?". Haaretz. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ "Spike in Palestinian Attacks Raise Fears of Another Intifada". New York Times. AP. October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
- Beaumont, Peter (October 7, 2015). "Violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories – the Guardian briefing". The Guardian. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- Baker, Luke (June 4, 2015). "Special Report: Prayers inflame tensions over Jerusalem holy site". Reuters. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- "Terrorist kills two, wounds toddler and mother in capital's Old City". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- ^ "Jerusalem: Palestinian kills two Israelis in Old City". BBC. October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- Hasson, Nir (October 3, 2015). "4 Wounded in Stabbing Attack in Jerusalem's Old City". Haaretz. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- Hasson, Nir (October 3, 2015). "Stabbing Attack Kills 1, Wounds 4 in Jerusalem's Old City". Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- Freidson, Yael; Elizra, Rotem; Levy, Elior; Ephraim, Omri (October 3, 2015). "1 killed, 3 wounded in Jerusalem attack". Ynet. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- Lubell, Maayan (October 3, 2015). "Palestinian kills two in Jerusalem, then shot dead - police". Reuters. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- ^ "Two Israelis killed in stabbing attack in Jerusalem". Al Jazeera. October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- "Israeli stabbing victim describes Palestinian attack that killed her husband". U.S. News & World Report. AP. October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
- Lynfield (October 4, 2015). "Jerusalem back on the brink: Israeli-Palestinian tensions high after knife attack leaves two dead". The Independent. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
- Ettinger, Yair (October 4, 2015). "Jerusalem Terror Attack Victims Laid to Rest". Haaretz. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
- ^ "70 Jewish Families Clinging to Old City's Muslim Quarter amid Raging Violence". The Jewish Press. October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- "Netanyahu visits Adele Banita in hospital, vows to 'smash' terrorism". Times of Israel. October 6, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
- ^ Shuttleworth, Kate (October 4, 2015). "Israel bans Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City after knife attacks". The Guardian. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ "Attacker killed after stabbing attempt in Jerusalem Old City". Times of Israel. October 12, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
- "In second attack, Israeli teen stabbed near Jerusalem's Old City". The Times of Israel. October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ "Israel Bars Palestinians From Jerusalem's Old City". New York Times. AP. October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- Osborne, Samuel (October 7, 2015). "Israeli civilian reportedly stabbed by Palestinian woman in Jerusalem's Old City". The Independent. BBC. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- Lazareva, Inna (October 7, 2015). "Jew stabbed by Palestinian woman inside Jerusalem's Old City". The Telegraph. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- "UN chief slams deadly killing in Old City of Jerusalem". Famagusta Gazette. October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- "U.S. condemns Jerusalem stabbing attack that left two Israelis dead". JTA. October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- Elhanan, Miller (October 4, 2015). "Breaking silence, PA condemns Israel for killing Jerusalem assailants". Times of Israel. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- "In second attack, Israeli teen stabbed near Jerusalem's Old City". The Times of Israel. October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- "Israel shuts Palestinians out of Jerusalem Old City after attacks". Deutsche Welle. Deutsche Welle staff, AFP, AP. October 4, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ Hasson, Nir (October 4, 2015). "Day After Stabbing Attacks, Palestinians Barred From Jerusalem's Old City for Two Days 7". Haaretz. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
