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The Palestinian terrorist wanted for a deadly shooting in eastern Jerusalem was killed Wednesday night while carrying out another attack near the capital, bringing an end to a 10-day manhunt.
Udai Tamimi was the main suspect in the October 8 shooting at a checkpoint in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat that killed Border Police Sergeant Noa Lazar, 18, and seriously wounded David Morel, 30.
Following the Shuafat attack, Israeli forces blockaded the area for days as they searched for the gunman, setting off violent riots.
On Wednesday night, Tamimi came out of hiding as he opened fire at civilian security guards at the entrance to the West Bank city of Maale Adumim, wounding one, police said. Spokesman Uzi Levy told reporters that Tamimi was armed with a pistol and was carrying an explosive device.
Another guard opened fire at the attacker and killed him, as captured by security camera footage published on social media. Police and IDF forces set up roadblocks and conducted searches over fears that another assailant or an accomplice had fled the scene.
Video purportedly showing the attack at the entrance of Ma'ale Adumim this evening. The attacker is struck several times during the shootout. Israeli media reporting the shooter is Udai Tamimi who killed an IDF soldier at the Shuafat checkpoint on Oct. 8. pic.twitter.com/XNtqdaKmBX
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) October 19, 2022
United Hatzalah first responder Akiva Skolnick relayed, “We were told at the scene that a terrorist opened fire at a security guard who miraculously was only injured in his hand. I treated him at the scene and then he was transported to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem in light condition and fully conscious. The terrorist was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Prime Minister Yair Lapid said the Jewish state “will act with a heavy hand and not hesitate against terror.”
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After a “warm” and “historic” meeting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hamas, a senior official in the Palestinian terror group on Wednesday announced “the relaunching of joint Palestinian-Syrian action.”
During the gathering, which was also attended by representatives of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist organizations, Assad reportedly expressed his government’s determination to again support the Palestinian “resistance” against the Jewish state.
Hamas-Syria ties reached a low after the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, when Gaza’s rulers refused to openly back the Assad regime in its conflict with opposition groups. The Syrians accused Hamas of stabbing them in the back.
Hamas has now retracted any “mistaken action” that was taken in the past against Syria, Hamas’ Khalil al-Hayya said this week. “We are proud of Syria, which has supported and embraced the Palestinian people,” Hayya told journalists in Damascus, adding: “Syria has provided for the Palestinians what no other country has provided.”
Iran and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah played a significant role in brokering the reconciliation between Hamas and Syria, Palestinian sources told local media.
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Israel will provide war-torn Ukraine with more humanitarian aid, as well as a missile defense alert system, Defense Minister Benny Gantz revealed on Wednesday, while stressing that Jerusalem is unable to provide Kyiv with weapons to fight off the Russian invasion.
“We’ll continue to support and stand by Ukraine, NATO and the West, but we won’t send weapons to Kyiv,” Gantz explained at a meeting of European ambassadors, adding: “We send humanitarian aid to Ukraine and provide lifesaving and defensive systems. We will continue to support Ukraine within our limits as we have done so far.”
Israel’s approach to the Ukraine war has been described as a “delicate balancing act.” For the last decade, the Israeli Air Force has been forced to carry out airstrikes on Iranian military assets in Syria, in what has become known as the “war between wars” with the Islamic Republic.
At the same time, since 2015, Russia has supported the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and the armed forces of the Russian Federation have become the primary actor in the country, necessitating Israeli military cooperation with the Kremlin.
Nevertheless, this week, Gantz revealed that Israel’s new aid package would include constructing an intelligent missile defense alert system similar to the one used by the Jewish state.
This after The New York Times revealed that there are currently some 50 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Crimean Peninsula, training Russian forces on how to deploy Iranian-made drones against Ukrainian targets.
“We called on Ukraine to give us information that would allow us to help build and provide a smart alert system against aerial and other threats,” Israel’s Defense Minister stated. “This system will have advantages in saving civilian lives and concentrating the alerts and sirens in relevant areas.”
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Early voting for Israeli diplomats and staff at embassies abroad began on Thursday morning, with the envoy to New Zealand casting the first vote in Wellington, the Jewish state’s easternmost diplomatic mission.
Ambassador Ran Yaakoby voted for the second time since taking up his post. “Last year, I expressed hope that this would be my first and last vote during my four-year term and that the elected government would be stable and successful,” he said. “This year too, I offer this hope for us all.”
Just voted in the #Israelelection2022 . 1st in the world to vote (and furthest) #israelinnz #Israelmfa .
Good luck to all citizens of Israel. Wishing for a good, stable, productive government & #knesset ( parliament).
We deserve it !
In Israel the voting is 1.11.2022 . pic.twitter.com/AihKBtY3ce— 🇮🇱 Ambassador Ran Yaakoby (@ISRAmbNZ) October 19, 2022
The election for the 25th Knesset is Israel’s fifth general election in four years. According to the Foreign Ministry, some 4,500 Israelis are eligible to vote abroad, including diplomats, representatives of other government ministries, the military, police, and their families.
Following New Zealand, 103 other polling stations are being opened at 101 missions worldwide, with the final votes in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Voting in diplomatic missions will end on Friday.
The New York consulate, with 750 eligible voters, will have three ballot stations alone. Meanwhile, the embassy in Yaoundé, Cameroon, will host a ballot box for just three eligible voters there. Votes will be cast for the first time in Manama, Bahrain, and the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, where Israel has opened embassies since the last election in March last year.
Private citizens living abroad cannot vote unless they fly to Israel — where the election will take place on November 1 — though many IDF soldiers on active duty will be able to vote as early as next week.
Recommended Reading
- US Amb. Nides to JNS: Israelis and Palestinians ‘Nowhere Near Two-State Solution’ (Alex Traiman, Jewish News Syndicate)
- European Union Prepares to Sanction Iran Over Russia Drone Sales (Times of Israel)
- Grant Shapps Becomes First Jewish Home Secretary in Nearly 30 Years (Georgia L Gilholy, Jewish Chronicle)
- Who Wins and Who Loses When the Shekel Gains? (Hili Yacobi-Handelsman, Israel Hayom)
- For Israel’s 75th Birthday, Hollywood Should Raise a Toast – Opinion (Gil Troy, Jerusalem Post)
