The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the Friday night shooting and stabbing attack near Damascas Gate in Jerusalem.
A border police officer, Hadas Malka, 23, was killed in the attack.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility and vowed that it was only the first of many attacks yet to come.
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Times of Israel reports:
The jihadist group in an online statement said three IS fighters had targeted “a gathering of Jews” in an operation Friday, and warned that “this attack will not be the last.”
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“With God’s help, we succeeded in carrying out an attack in the heart of Jerusalem,” the group said.
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There is little evidence which proves ISIS’s claim to the attack. Hamas outright denied ISIS’s claims, saying the terrorists were “two Palestinians from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a third from Hamas.”
Hamas celebrates Malka’s death as “new proof that the Palestinian people continue their revolution against the occupiers and that the intifada will continue until complete freedom is achieved.”
Israeli officials have their doubts about ISIS’s claim.
Nonetheless, ISIS calls the attack “revenge for the religion of Allah” and call for the “demise” of Israel.
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BREAKING: Multiple border police wounded, at least 1 critically after coordinated terror attack by 3 Arabs in Jerusalem. All neutralized. pic.twitter.com/5NpLfM5Hv6
— Israel Breaking (@IsraelBreaking) June 16, 2017
Times of Israel continues:
Israeli officials also cast doubt on it, saying there was no indication of IS involvement, and that the attack did not appear to have been directed by any group.
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Islamic State affiliates have claimed rocket fire into Israel, and previous terror attacks in Israel have been Islamic State-inspired. At least two 2016 attacks were inspired by Islamic State, according to Israeli officials: a January 1, 2016, shooting in Tel Aviv that left two bar-goers and a cab driver dead, and a truck attack in Jerusalem in December 2016 in which four soldiers on a tour of cultural sites were slain.
In its statement, IS said the attack was “revenge for the religion of Allah and the sanctities of the violated Muslims.”
“Let the Jews watch for the demise of their state at the hands of the soldiers of the Caliphate,” the statement added.
Three West Bank Palestinians carried out the coordinated shooting and stabbing attacks in two locations in close proximity at approximately the same time.
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Malka was stabbed at Damascus gate and succumbed to her wounds at Hadassah Hospital in Mount Scopus.
Times of Israel reported on the scene of events:
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The gunfire was coming from an attack seconds earlier in which two assailants attacked Border Police troops with a homemade Carl Gustav sub-machine gun and knives, at Zedakiah’s Cave in the Muslim Quarter. Some reports said the gun used by the attackers jammed, preventing further casualties. The two attackers were killed.
While on her way to the scene, Malka was accosted by a third attacker.
“Hadas fought her attacker for several seconds, while he stabbed her repeatedly and while trying to reach for her weapon,” the statement read.
Nearby troops opened fire and killed the attacker.
At least four more people were injured in the attacks, including another cop. They all sustained light to moderate wounds and were being treated in hospital.
Hamas and ISIS dispute each other over who is responsible for the bloodshed.
Both agree, though, that there are more attacks to come.
