WEST BANK (Dispatches) – A
Palestinian was martyred in a shooting on Sunday in occupied East Al-Quds near the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, according to media reports.
A statement by the regime said four Zionists, including two officers, were injured when an armed Palestinian opened fire near the Bab al-Silsila (Chain Gate), one of Al-Aqsa Mosque’s main gates, in Al-Quds’ Old City.
The Palestinian gunman was martyred by Zionist troops, the statement said.
According to Israeli KAN channel, an injured Zionist man died later of his wounds.
Official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Zionist troops on Sunday fatally shot the 42-year-old man near the Chain Gate, one of the entrances to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
He was later identified as Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, a resident of the Shuafat refugee camp in East Al-Quds and one of the leaders of Hamas resistance movement in the camp.
“The message of this heroic operation is a warning to the criminal enemy and its regime to stop attacks on our land and our holy sites. Israel will pay a price for the iniquities it commits against Al-Aqsa Mosque, Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah and elsewhere,” Hamas said in a statement.
Hamas spokesperson Hazim Qasim also praised the incident, calling it in line with the “legitimate struggle” of the Palestinian people.
“The holy city [of Al-Quds] will continue to fight until it expels the foreign occupier, and it will not succumb to the hateful reality of the occupation,” he said.
Abdul-Latif Qanu, another Hamas spokesman, said the operation was part of a natural response to the growing Zionist crimes in occupied Al-Quds.
He added that the incident underlines the continuation of the Palestinian nation’s struggle against the occupying regime, and the regime officials’ inability to snuff out the campaign.