Border policewoman killed in Jerusalem attack carried out by three Arab terrorists
Border Police officer Hadar Cohen, 19, was killed in a terror attack at Damascus Gate outside of Jerusalem’s Old City on February 3, 2016.
Second female officer critically wounded; All terrorists shot dead.
A Border Policewomen was killed and another badly wounded in a combined terror stabbing and shooting attack at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday.
Police said that three terrorists, armed with three automatic weapons, knives and two explosive devices arrived at the Damascus Gate. The terrorists aroused the suspicion of a Border Police unit in the area.
A Border Police officer asked the suspects for their identification cards. One of the terrorists provided his ID card to the officers while a second terrorist pulled out a rifle and began firing shots. Police said later that the Border Policewoman prevented a much bigger attack by identifying the suspects and asking them for identification.
Two female Border Police officers were injured by gunfire. The Border Police unit quickly responded, firing at and killing all three terrorists.
One of the wounded officers, Corporal Hadar Cohen, died of her wounds. She was 19 years old.
Cohen saved the life of her fellow Border Police officer in the midst of the attack. Screen captures of security camera footage that emerged after the attack show Hadar shooting and killing one of the terrorists as he was about to kill the other Border Police officer.
After Cohen succeeded in killing the terrorist, she collapsed, losing consciousness.
[Arab] sources identified the three terrorists as Ahmed Rajeh Zakarneh, Mohamed Ahmed Kmail and Ahmed Najeh Abu Al-Rub. The sources said that the three twenty-year-old men came for the town of Qabatiya in the Jenin area, in the northern West Bank.
The three terrorists had no prior security records.
Ahmed Zakarneh and Mohamed Kmail – two of the Damascus Gate attackers. pic.twitter.com/2j4pFWflFc
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) February 3, 2016
One Israeli victim was considered to be in critical condition and the second victim was in serious condition.
MDA paramedics evacuated the two victims to Hadassah University Medical Center at Mount Scopus where they were immediately taken in for surgery.
One of the Jerusalem attackers was a childhood friend of a [so-called] Palestinian who carried out a stabbing attack in Jenin. https://t.co/xEFoAbBidx
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) February 3, 2016
Police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld confirmed that bomb disposal experts at the scene successfully neutralized two pipe bombs that didn’t explode.
Police Forensics looking into the id of the 3 terrorists who carried out the attack at Damascus gate. Area closed pic.twitter.com/dRHHkhvQR8
— Micky Rosenfeld (@MickyRosenfeld) February 3, 2016
Rosenfeld said that heightened security would continue across the capital in the wake of the attack.
Bomb disposal experts at the scene neutralize 2 pipe bombs that didn’t explode. Attack carried out by 3 terrorists. pic.twitter.com/fA7jhycCga
— Micky Rosenfeld (@MickyRosenfeld) February 3, 2016
Hamas applauded the attack, calling it a “severe blow” to Israeli security measures.
Palestinian sources name 3 Damascus Gate attackers as Ahmed Rajeh Zakarneh, Mohamed Ahmed Kmail and Ahmed Najeh Abu Al-Rub – from Jenin area
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) February 3, 2016
Following the attack President Reuven Rivlin said he spoke with Deputy Commander of the Border Police Yossi Poni who updated him on the details of the incident.
Automatic weapon used by [Arab] terrorists at Damascus gate in attack. 3 terrorists shot & killed by officers. pic.twitter.com/vh5bdysoL0
— Micky Rosenfeld (@MickyRosenfeld) February 3, 2016
“I heard from him [Poni] how the alertness of our border police officers served again as a wall of defense and I asked him to express my support to all of the fighters,” Rivlin said.
“Together with the entire nation of Israel, I am praying for the recovery of the wounded. To you, the Border Police forces, men and women, protectors of the walls of Jerusalem, I thank you in the name of the nation for your service against fighting against the murderous terror that sees no boundaries,” Rivlin added.
