Israeli Forces Hunt East Jerusalem Checkpoint Attacker

i24 News

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid attends a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem June 26, 2022 REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool

Israeli forces were hunting the assailant behind an attack that killed a soldier at an east Jerusalem checkpoint, authorities said Sunday.

The Israeli army said a soldier was “killed as a result of being critically injured by a shooting attack” that police said had taken place at a checkpoint in east Jerusalem near the Shuafat refugee camp.

The female soldier who died was 18. She was named as Sergeant Noa Lazar from Bat Hefer, according to an Israel Defense Forces statement. She served in the Erez Battalion of the military police at the Shuafat crossing.

Lazar was promoted from the rank of corporal to the rank of sergeant after her death.

Another Israeli was “severely injured,” police said, and a third person, whose identity was not specified, was hit by “shrapnel” in the incident, according to emergency services group Magen David Adom.

The victims were transported to Hadassah Medical Center for treatment. On Sunday morning, the hospital said that the condition of the 30-year-old man seriously wounded in the attack “continues to be difficult” following overnight surgery by a neurosurgical team at Hadassah Ein Kerem.

The male victim was initially described in reports as a security guard.

Police cordoned off the area near the checkpoint and dozens of officers were deployed at the entrance and exit of east Jerusalem, while the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medics were being prevented from entering the refugee camp.

Three suspects were captured during the manhunt, with a fourth terrorist suspect still on the loose.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid described the shooting as a “severe” attack.

“My heart is with the wounded and their families this evening. Terror will not defeat us, we are strong even on this difficult evening,” he said in a statement.