A Palestinian has been shot and killed by an off-duty Israeli police officer after he allegedly opened fire in an illegal Israeli settlement in Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank Tuesday (August 1).
The Palestinian Health Ministry has identified the gunman as 20-year-old Muhannad Mohammad al-Mazaraah from Azariya, a nearby West Bank town. The shooting happened in the settlement just north of Bethlehem, which injured six people, two of them were in serious condition.
One of the injured was a teenager.
Israeli police reported the gunman opened fire in all directions before he was apprehended by an off-duty officer who happened to be in the area. The officer was reportedly in a barbershop when shots were heard, and rushed outside to assess the situation, France 24 reported. He suddenly saw the gunman and returned fire when the gunman shot at him.
The Constant Conflict
According to Al Jazeera reporter Laura Khan, Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas were a recurrent flashpoint for tensions and violence between the two sides.
The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967.
"These settlements are not only deemed illegal, but Palestinians consider them a form of colonization that is encroaching upon Palestinian lands," she added.
Fighting between Israel and Palestine in the occupied West Bank intensified early last year when Israel allegedly launched near-nightly raids into Palestinian areas in the contested territory, with Palestinians retaliating in kind.
Reaction to the Shooting
Several political entities in the contested lands have made their responses known.
For Hamas, the Palestinian movement governing Gaza since 2007, the shooting was allegedly a praiseworthy attack on Israelis illegally settling in Palestinian lands, and called the deceased gunman a hero. However, they stopped short of claiming responsibility for the shooting.
Meanwhile, Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting after leading an incursion at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Temple Mount earlier that morning.
Local media also reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were following the incident closely.