(RepublicanJournal.org) – The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has now collapsed after the terrorist group launched a vicious assault on civilians in Jerusalem. At least three people died in the shooting attack, as well as two terrorists. Hamas has admitted it was responsible and praised the dead gunmen.
Around 7:40 am local time on November 30, Israelis were waiting at a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem when a car stopped nearby; two Palestinians got out of the car and opened fire with an M16 rifle and a handgun. Three people, including a religious court judge and a pregnant 24-year-old teacher, were killed. Five others were wounded.
The death toll could have been much higher, but an armed civilian and two soldiers who were returning to Gaza after leave returned fire, killing both terrorists. Tragically the armed civilian was then shot by the soldiers, who mistook him for a third terrorist. He was taken to hospital but died there.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack the same day, praising the terrorists and calling them “jihad-waging martyrs.” The perpetrators were two brothers, Murand and Ibrahim Nemer. Israeli security sources said both were Hamas members and had spent time in jail for terrorism offenses. Both were residents of East Jerusalem, which is a Palestinian-majority area. The scene of the murders, a bus stop on Weizmann Boulevard, has been attacked before. On November 23, 2022, a terrorist bomb detonated at the bus stop, killing two and injuring 16.
The shooting, combined with Hamas reneging on some of the agreed hostage releases, badly dented already fading hopes for an extension of the ceasefire. Then, around 5:00 am on December 1, Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched a rocket attack on towns in southern Israel. Forty minutes later Israeli strike planes were in the air and on their way to targets in Gaza.
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