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Hamas claims Jerusalem shooting attack that kills 3 as Gaza truce is narrowly extended
(JTA) — Hamas has claimed responsibility for a shooting attack in the Ramot neighborhood of east Jerusalem that killed three and wounded six on Thursday morning, in what the Palestinian terror group said was retaliation for Israel’s war against it in Gaza and an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.
The attack was carried out by two brothers from east Jerusalem who had each served sentences in Israeli prisons for terror-related crimes, according to the Shin Bet, Israel’s security service. Ibrahim Namr, 30, and Murad Namr, 38, exited their vehicle and began firing on a group of civilians waiting at a bus stop located by the city’s entrance at around 7:40 a.m. Thursday.
The brothers were quickly shot and killed by two soldiers, one of whom was returning home from active duty in Gaza. That soldier, Roee Eizenbach, had left Gaza just hours earlier and was lightly injured in the incident.
The dead include Elimelech Wasserman, 73, who was reportedly on his way to Ashdod where he worked as a rabbinical judge; Libiah Dickman, 24, who was reportedly pregnant with her first child; and Chana Ifergen, 60, who died at an area hospital. Two of the other shooting victims are hospitalized in serious condition.
The two Namr brothers were both affiliated with Hamas when they were imprisoned in Israel, Murad from 2010 to 2020 and Ibrahim in 2014. The terror group said on Thursday that it was calling for “an escalation” of violence in response to Israel’s war against it in Gaza, declared after Hamas attacked Israel Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking hundreds of hostages, and in retaliation after two children were among four people killed during an Israeli army raid in the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday. The Israeli army said two senior terror operatives who were killed were the targets of the raid.
The attack occurred shortly after Israel’s 7 a.m. ceasefire deadline with Hamas was narrowly extended for another day. Instead of releasing 10 hostages, as it has been required to do each day since the truce went into effect last Friday, Hamas is releasing six women and two children, as well as the bodies of three hostages who died in Gaza, according to Israeli media reports. Two Russian-Israeli women released Wednesday as a “gesture” to Russian President Vladimir Putin are being counted in the daily tally.
It was not immediately clear which hostages were dead or which children would be released. There are only four children known to be held hostage in Gaza: teen siblings Aisha and Bilal Ziadna and Kfir and Ariel Bibas, toddlers who with their mother have become a symbol of the crisis. Hamas claimed on Wednesday that the Bibas brothers had been killed along with their mother; Israel has not confirmed or refuted the claim.
The shooting attack took place as U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was in Jerusalem to weigh in as Israeli officials plan the next phase of their war on Hamas. Herzog described the attack to Blinken as “another example of the condition we find ourselves in, a never-ending war against terror organizations and in particular Hamas.” Blinken also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who reiterated after their meeting that Israel has committed to destroying Hamas. Blinken reportedly told him that the United States expects Israel to protect civilians in further fighting. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, 14,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, a figure that does not distinguish between combatants and civilians or denote casualties from misfired Palestinian rockets.
The shooting at the Ramot bus stop comes just over a year after a bomb attack occurred at the same place, killing two. In both cases, far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir appeared shortly at the scene of the attack calling for harsher measures in response to terror and for civilians to arm themselves. Ben-Gvir has said his party would resign from the government if the war is not resumed in short order.
The background of the shooters is certain to add fuel to the debate in Israel over the dangers of releasing prisoners in order to redeem hostages. Israel has released three prisoners held on security offenses for each hostage released from Gaza, but is expected to face pressure to release more prisoners if it wants to see male adults and soldiers released.
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The post Hamas claims Jerusalem shooting attack that kills 3 as Gaza truce is narrowly extended appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel ‘Concerned’ with Russia’s Violation of Estonian Airspace as Tallin Requests NATO Article 4 Consultation
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar speaks next to High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas, and EU commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica as they hold a press conference on the day of an EU-Israel Association Council with European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
i24 News – Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Saturday that Jerusalem was “concerned” with the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian jets.
This comes after three Russian military jets violated NATO member Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes on Friday in what its government branded an “unprecedentedly brazen” incursion. It is the latest in a series of recent military actions by Russia that have rattled the alliance.
Earlier this month Poland shot down Russian drones in its airspace with the backing of aircraft from its NATO allies.
Tallin meanwhile decided to request NATO Article 4 consultations over the violation, Prime Minister Kristen Michal said on Friday. Article 4 stipulates that members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will consult together whenever, in the view of any of them, the territory, political independence or security of any of them comes under threat.
US President Donald Trump made it clear he was not pleased with the situation.
“I don’t love it. I don’t like when that happens. Could be big trouble,” Trump told reporters.
NATO polices the airspace of Estonia and other Baltic nations in its “Baltic Sentry” mission.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Can Overcome Any Return of Sanctions
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed on Saturday that Iran would overcome any reimposition of sanctions on it through a so-called “snapback” process, after the U.N. Security Council voted not to permanently lift sanctions on Tehran.
“Through the ‘snapback’ they block the road, but it is the brains and the thoughts that open or build the road,” Pezeshkian said in remarks carried by state television.
“They cannot stop us. They can strike our Natanz or Fordow (nuclear installations attacked by the US and Israel in June), But they are unaware that it is humans who built and will rebuild Natanz,” Pezeshkian said.
The Security Council move came on Friday after Britain, France and Germany launched a 30-day process last month to reimpose sanctions, accusing Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies having any such intention.
“We will never surrender in the face of excessive demands because we have the power to change the situation,” Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by state media.
The “snapback” process would reimpose U.N. sanctions on Iran unless an agreement is reached on a delay between Tehran and key European powers within about a week.
The snapback would reimpose an arms embargo, a ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing, a ban on activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, a global asset freeze and travel bans on Iranian individuals and entities.
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US Seeks Congressional Approval to Sell $6 Billion in Arms to Israel
The U.S. Capitol building is seen in Washington, U.S., December 6, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/Files
i24 News – The US administration of President Donald Trump is seeking congressional approval for a weapons deal with Israel to the tune of some $6 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
While the proposed deal was first sent to congressional leaders before Israel’s controversial strike in Doha—targeting the leadership of Hamas, the jihadist Palestinian group with which Israel is at war—it is understood the incident had no effect on the administration’s willingness to push the sale through the legislature.
The proposed sales include a $3.8 billion deal for 30 AH-64 Apache helicopters and a $1.9 billion deal for 3,250 infantry assault vehicles, the report said, citing official documents.
The arms would be paid for by US-provided foreign military financing, according to the documents.
Presently, the administration is seeking the approval of the four top Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, it is understood.
The leaders of the two panels usually must sign off on major foreign weapons deals before the administration sends wider notification to Congress and the public.