On a rare move, Hamas’s military wing claimed responsibility Monday for a terrorist shooting that killed an Israeli security guard at the entrance to the West Bank village of Ariel on Friday night.
“This operation is part of a series of responses to the desecration of our Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and aggression against him, “said a statement from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam brigades.
Sixteen Israelis have been killed in a deadly wave of terrorist attacks since mid-March. Hamas officials have encouraged and praised the bloodshed, but this is the first time the terrorist group has taken credit.
“The heroic ‘quality’ attack will not be the last, with God’s help,” the Kasam brigades said.
The military wing of Hamas has rarely issued statements claiming responsibility for the attacks in recent years. Even when it was acknowledged that Hamas members had carried out attacks – such as when a teacher in East Jerusalem killed an Israeli in the Old City last January – the terrorist group praised, not said, the killings.
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A video released after the attack allegedly shows that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a group of armed groups loosely linked to Fatah, Hamas’ main Palestinian rivals, claimed responsibility for the killing. However, the claim cannot be fully confirmed, as the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades have no official channels.
Two Palestinians – Yousef Asi, 21, and Yahya Murray, 20 – were arrested by Israeli forces in connection with Saturday’s attack on the northern West Bank town of Karawat Bani Hassan. Hamas official media identified the two as members of the Kassam Brigade on Monday night.
Sameeh Asi and Yahya Murray, arrested in the Palestinian town of Salfit on April 30, 2022, for a terrorist attack on April 29 at the entrance to the village of Ariel, in which security guard Vyacheslav Golev was killed. (Screenshot of Israeli television; used in accordance with clause 27a of the Copyright Act)
“[The Qassam Brigades] declare their pride in their fighters, the blessed sons of Qassam in the occupied West Bank, who still wield the “Sword of Jerusalem,” the terrorist group said, using Hamas’ name for the May war with Israel.
The victim of Friday’s attack, 23-year-old Israeli security officer Vyacheslav Golev, was laid to rest in Beit Shemesh in central Israel on Sunday. Golev died while hiding his fiancée Victoria Wingelman, who was on duty with him that night.
An undated photo of Vyacheslav Golev, who was killed in a shooting near Ariel on April 29, and his fiancée Victoria Wingelman. (courtesy)
“He has always defended everyone, whether his brothers and sisters, friends, everyone he knew, if something happened, he was always the first to protect them,” Golev’s childhood friend Daniel Zilbergstein told Channel 12.
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have been high for weeks. The deadly wave of terror against Israeli civilians prompted Israeli security forces to step up operations in the West Bank to reduce violence in early April.
Several Palestinians have been killed in the clashes. Many of them were fighters or were declared members of terrorist groups. But some others – such as a visually impaired woman killed in a town near Bethlehem in April – appeared to be unarmed civilians.
Meanwhile, Palestinian rebels clashed with Israeli police at the holy site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Palestinians hurled stones at officers, who responded with rubber bullets, sonic grenades and tear gas, injuring hundreds.
Scenes of violence at the site of the fire, the holiest in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam, have sparked fears of a resumption of war between Israel and the Palestinians. However, despite scattered rocket fire from Gaza in mid-April, the situation did not worsen immediately.
On Saturday afternoon, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinuar, delivered a speech charged with threats against Israel, calling on Palestinians in the West Bank to carry out terrorist attacks.
Yahya Sinuar, the governor of Hamas in Gaza, addresses the city of Gaza on April 30, 2022 (Mahmud Hamas / AFP)
“Our people on the West Coast, young people on the West Coast, don’t wait for someone’s decision! The individual actions proved to be extremely successful, “Sinuar said in a one-hour address.
He said any further Israeli “violations” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque would lead to attacks on Jewish synagogues around the world.
“Whoever decides to allow the repetition of this photo, the violation of Al-Aqsa – he has decided to allow the violation of thousands of synagogues and Jewish temples around the world,” said Sinuar.
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