Jerusalem police on Thursday killed a Palestinian man suspected of a shooting attack on an Israeli hardliner which left him badly wounded, a spokesman said.
“The Palestinian, who was the main suspect in the Wednesday night attack, was eliminated at his home in Jerusalem’s Abu Tor neighbourhood by special police forces following an exchange of fire,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
Abu Tor straddles the seamline between west Jerusalem and the occupied eastern sector, which was seized by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War.
The suspect’s death took place early on Thursday, just hours after a gunman on a motorcycle had opened fire at a rightwing Jewish activist called Yehuda Glick, leaving him critically wounded.
His condition improved overnight to serious but stable, the hospital said.
Glick, who is known for his lobbying to secure Jewish prayer rights at the Al Aqsa mosque compound, had just attended a debate on the issue at the Menachem Begin Heritage Centre.
Sacred to both Jews and Muslims, the flashpoint Al Aqsa mosque compound houses Islam’s third holiest site, but is also revered as the most sacred spot for Jews who refer to the site as the Temple Mount due to the fact it once housed the two Jewish temples.
Although non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site, Jews are not allowed to pray there. Rumours that Israel was poised to legislate changes to the status quo have triggering weeks of unrest and clashes in and around the plaza.
Glick has campaigned for years for Jews to be allowed to pray at the Temple Mount.
Israel police kill Palestinian suspect in attack on right-winger
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