According to the Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service, shots were fired at a bus on a road near the Western Wall, as well as at a parking lot near King David’s Tomb outside the Old City’s Zion Gate. Six men were injured, along with a 35-year-old pregnant woman, according to Jewish media reports. The alleged gunman reportedly waited for the bus to arrive and fired shots while the passengers were on board, before fleeing. “The bus was full, full. I stopped at a bus stop at King David’s tomb and then I heard gunshots, people started shouting, people were injured inside the bus,” bus driver Daniel Kanievsky told Jewish media. Get The Times of Israel Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories By signing up, you agree to the terms The driver said he wanted to drive away but couldn’t because passengers were helping a woman in a wheelchair onto the bus, with the lowered ramp preventing the door from closing. “I waited half an hour before the bus came,” said eyewitness Avraham Deutsch, according to the Ynet news site. “I heard three shots, jumped into the bus and lay down with everyone. I immediately knew it was a terrorist attack and then there were screams of terror. Everyone called the police. I saw two old men on the ground and two young men with shoulder injuries.” “It was a very difficult scene, the bloodstained tzitzit and the abandoned baby carriage will remain in my memory for many years,” said Moshe Levy of the United Hatzalah emergency group, referring to the knotted ceremonial fringes worn by observant Jews. Police inspect the scene of a suspected terrorist shooting outside Jerusalem’s Old City, August 14, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) The MDA said its medics treated two people who were seriously injured, as well as five others who were said to be in light and moderate condition. The victims were all taken to hospitals in Jerusalem, MDA said. Shaare Zedek Medical Center said five people arrived from the incident, including two in serious condition, one in moderate condition and two with minor injuries. Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital said two people arrived with gunshot wounds and were being evaluated, while four people suffered from acute stress after the shooting. Suspected shooting attack in the Old City of Jerusalem: 7 injured, two of them seriously, in two different scenes. A manhunt is underway for terrorist @VeredPelman (Photo: Itamar Carmon) pic.twitter.com/S7JjWtJEPB — Here news (@kann_news) August 13, 2022 The alleged attackers reportedly fled the scene to the nearby East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, with police saying they are treating the incident as a suspected terrorist attack. “A large number of police forces arrived at the scene and began securing the area, investigating the case and searching for the suspect who fled,” police said, adding that Jerusalem District Commander Doron Turgeman was assessing the situation at the scene . Police cordoned off the area after the attack and briefly prevented worshipers from entering and exiting the Western Wall complex. The scene of a suspected terrorist attack outside Jerusalem’s Old City, August 14, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) According to Palestinian media reports, police entered Silwan to search the area for the alleged gunmen. The Palestinian terror group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, was quick to praise the attack, calling it “heroic” and saying it was “a natural response to the occupation’s daily crimes against our people, our country and the major Muslim and Christian sites”. The incident came a week after a three-day round of intense fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), an Iranian-backed terror group also based in Gaza and considered more hardline than Hamas. Over 1,000 rockets were fired at Israeli cities as the Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes targeting PIJ targets in the Strip. Gaza authorities say 49 Palestinians were killed, many of whom Israel says were killed by PIJ rockets mistakenly landed in Gaza. Since March, 19 people – mostly Israeli civilians inside Israel – have been killed in attacks, mostly by Palestinians. Three Israeli Arab attackers were also killed. AFP contributed to this report. It’s not (only) for you. Supporting The Times of Israel is not a transaction for an online service, such as subscribing to Netflix. The ToI community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions around the world, for free. Sure, we’ll remove all ads from your page and you’ll unlock access to some great Community-only content. But your support gives you something deeper than that: the pride of participating in something that really matters. Join the Times of Israel Community Join our Community Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this You are a devoted reader We are really glad that you read X Times of Israel articles last month. That’s why we started the Times of Israel ten years ago – to provide discerning readers like you with the must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world. So now we have a request. Unlike other media, we have not set up a paywall. But because the journalism we do is expensive, we invite readers to whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community. For just $6 a month you can support our quality journalism while enjoying the ADS-FREE Times of Israel, as well as access to exclusive content available only to members of the Times of Israel Community. Thank you, David Horovitz, founding editor of the Times of Israel Join our community Join our community Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
