Posted on 03/29/22
| News Source: Times of Israel
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a rare condemnation of the terror attack that left five Israelis dead in Bnei Brak on Tuesday night, as dozens of Palestinians rallied in support of the gunman in his West Bank hometown.
“[The president] expressed his condemnation of the killing of Israeli civilians tonight, emphasizing that the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians only leads the situation to deteriorate,” Abbas’ office said in a statement.
Eleven Israelis have died in the past week in the deadly attacks by Arab Israelis and Palestinians across the country. While Ramallah’s rivals — including Hamas and Islamic Jihad — celebrated the killings, Abbas stayed silent until Tuesday’s attack.
Earlier on Tuesday evening, a Palestinian gunman opened fire on Israelis in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv. Five Israelis were killed, including a police officer, who died of injuries sustained in a firefight in which the terrorist was killed.
The gunman was identified as Diaa Hamarsheh, a 26-year-old resident of the town of Ya’abad near Jenin in the West Bank who was in Israel illegally. Hamarsheh was sentenced to a year and a half in Israeli prison for security offenses in 2013. Police also arrested a number of suspected accomplices.