Three Israelis were killed and five others wounded on Friday in a shooting operation at a bus stop in Kiryat Malachi, near the city of Ashdod, in the northern Naqab, Al-Jazeera reported, citing Zaka and Israeli medical sources.
For its part, the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported that “two people were killed, two others were seriously wounded, one person was moderately wounded, and one person was lightly wounded” in the operation.
According to the Israeli police, the shooter was killed by a Jewish settler at the scene.
The author of the operation was reportedly identified as 40-year-old Sheikh Fadi Jamjoum, from the Shuafat refugee camp, near occupied Jerusalem.
ISRAELI AMBULANCE SERVICES: Three Israelis were killed and five others were injured in a shooting at a bus stop in Kiryat Malachi, east of Ashdod.https://t.co/uj3BK2H3rY pic.twitter.com/8xE1ZULAaG
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) February 16, 2024
Israeli media reported that Israeli police issued a security alert for nearby towns, while residents were asked to stay home.
Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was mentioned by the Jerusalem Post as saying that “weapons save lives” in order to “promote his efforts to make it easier for civilians to get a gun license”.
On December 4, Ben-Gvir announced that more than 260,000 new requests for firearm permits had been submitted to his ministry since the Hamas military operation on October 7.
“When the war started, we knew that we were right when we said that every (person) that has a weapon can save a life,” Ben Gvir said at the time, adding: “We need to enable as many people as possible to carry a weapon.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice over its deadly onslaught in Gaza.
منفذ العملية في كريات ملاخي بالقرب من عسقلان هو الشهيد البطل فادي جمجوم 37 عام من سكان مخيم شعفاط في القدس .
اعلن عن مقتل ثلاثة ارهابيين اسرائيليين احداهم جندي ، واصابة اثنين بحالة خطيرة .رحمة الله شهيدنا البطل في يوم الجمعة المباركة واسكانه فسيح جناته pic.twitter.com/JPXbkQXNBV
— Tamer | تامر (@tamerqdh) February 16, 2024
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 28,775 Palestinians have been killed, and 68,552 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
