In the early hours of Sunday morning, a terrorist opened fire on a bus that came from the Kotel Plaza as it passed through the area of Mt. Zion near the Zion Gate. 8 people were wounded in the attack, and 2 of them are in serious condition.
The terrorist who committed the attack is 25-year-old Amir Elsidawi from Jerusalem. Elsidawi turned himself into the police Sunday morning, arriving at a police station in a taxi and carrying the weapon that he used in the attack.
One victim of the attack was a 38-year-old pregnant woman. She was rushed to Shaare Zedek hospital where doctors were forced to deliver her baby early when treating the mother. The unidentified mother is reported to be in stable condition, but the baby’s condition is listed as critical. There is no word yet as to how many months pregnant the mother was at the time of the attack.
2 brothers, Elazar and Dovi Prover, were among those wounded. The ultra-orthodox brothers were lightly wounded.
As for the terrorist Elsidawai, he has a criminal record; however, he has no previous record of terror-related offenses. He turned himself in only after the Police found his car parked near the scene of the attack and identified his family as its owner.
The bus driver Daniel Kanievsky described the attack. He told Israel’s Kan Network B, “I left the Western Wall with about 15 passengers. I stopped at the station near David’s Tomb, and the passengers started getting on. I helped a woman in a wheelchair get on the bus, and then three shots rang out. The passengers panicked and laid down on the floor. I couldn’t drive because the ramp was open. After it was closed, I continued driving. I saw a woman lying outside the bus, and we put her inside.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid spoke with Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion Sunday morning. Lapid stated, “Jerusalem is vibrant and full of tourists and that is how we will continue to protect it. The Jerusalem area will be significantly strengthened starting tonight to prevent copycat attacks, but I want to emphasize: Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, is safe, open, strong and welcoming to tourists and residents alike.”
A senior MDA medic Nehmia Katz, and MDA paramedic David Trachtenberg, treated the wounded at the scene of the attack.
“We arrived very quickly at the scene, on Maale HaShalom Street we saw a bus with passengers standing in the middle of the road, people signaled us to come to two men about 30 years old who were on the bus and suffered from gunshot wounds, they were fully conscious and walking,” they recounted.
The victims had gunshot wounds to their upper bodies and the medics provided them with life-saving medical treatment and put them on MDA ambulances. From where they were taken to a hospital in what the medics said was mild to moderate condition.
“From there we continued to the entrance to the David’s Tomb parking lot and saw 4 men, one about 50 years old and three about 30 years old,” added Katz and Trachtenberg, “lying fully conscious and suffering from gunshot wounds to their upper bodies, a short time later the MDA ATV brought us another wounded woman, about 30 years old, conscious, with gunshot wounds. “We gave the wounded life-saving medical treatment and evacuated them urgently to the hospitals, with 2 in serious condition, 5 in mild to moderate condition.”
