• A shooting near the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem wounded eight, including a New York family of four. 
  • A heavily pregnant mother was rushed to the hospital to deliver her baby, who did not survive. 
  • The shooting from East Jerusalem suspect has handed himself to the authorities. 

A New York family of four has been wounded, and a newborn baby has died after a suspected Palestinian gunman shot up a bus of Jewish worshippers.

The shooting, which injured eight people in total, occurred early on Sunday when a suspected Palestinian gunman, who Israeli media have identified as Amir Sidawi, open-fired near the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. 

According to reports, the worshippers had returned from praying at the Western Wall. The Western Wall, the only surviving remnant of the Second Temple, is the holiest site in Judaism.

Sidawi later turned himself in, Haaretz reports, with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid saying the suspect was a resident of East Jerusalem who was operating alone. 

Sidawi had served five years in prison for a stabbing attack, said reports.

The American ambassador to Israel has confirmed that a family of four from Brooklyn, New York, were among the wounded, but no further information has been disclosed. 

 

One of the seriously wounded was a pregnant woman who was rushed to hospital to deliver her baby, Haaretz reports. The baby did not survive. 

This attack follows a week of violence between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

AP reports that 49 Palestinians, including 17 children and 14 militants, were killed, and hundreds were injured in three days of fighting, ending with a truce last Sunday. The fighting was triggered by Israel's assassination of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) commander. No Israeli was killed or seriously injured after the PIJ counter-attacked by firing hundreds of rockets into the Jewish state.

Botched launches of Palestinian rockets killed 19, including 12 children, according to a report by Haaretz.

Reuters reports that this offensive marks the most severe escalation between Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israel since an 11-day war in May 2021.

Meanwhile, during the week, three suspected Palestinian militants were killed in a gunfight with Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Nablus.

 

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