A suspected Palestinian gunman wounded two men Tuesday near a Jewish site in annexed East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities said, launching a search for the attacker.
Police said they “suspect a terrorist shooting attack” in the Shaykh Yarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem where two motorists were wounded and hospitalized, medical sources said.
“Police and Border Police are on site searching for the suspect, who fled the scene,” law enforcement said in a statement.
The attack occurred just days before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, during which deadly attacks and clashes have taken place in Israel, annexed East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces sealed off streets in the neighborhood, where an AFP reporter saw officers enter a Palestinian house, while a drone, helicopter and police dogs assisted in the search.
Police on lockdown prevented people and vehicles from moving in the center of the neighborhood, while heavily armed men combed the area.
Police announced that they found the attacker’s weapon near the scene, a short distance from the tomb of Simeon the Just, a site frequented by religious Jews.
The weapon was identified as a Carlo submachine gun, which Palestinians manufacture in the West Bank.
Hadassah Hospital said it received one of the victims of the attack, a lightly wounded 48-year-old man.
Shaare Zedek Medical Center said it received a man in his 50s also lightly wounded.
Shaykh Yarrah was at the center of protests against the eviction of Palestinians at the hands of Israeli settlers before and during the May 2021 war between Israel and Gaza militants.