Description: Six people were killed and fifteen were injured in a shooting in East Jerusalem conducted by two Palestinians. According to eyewitnesses the attack unfolded rapidly as the two attackers were quick to insert themselves in the busy highway where they started targeting civilians. The attack arrives in a sensitive period for the war in the Gaza Strip, as US President Donald Trump had issued a warning to Hamas to release all the remaining hostages claiming that Israel has accepted the latest US ceasefire proposal. The backlash of the East Jerusalem attack could drive the peace initiative to the ground as the expected response to Israel would be to intensify and escalate its military operations in Gaza. Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the site of the attack and vowed a strong response as he claimed that Israeli military forces were already conducting raids into the West Bank, searching for other terrorists which enabled the attackers. The attacks were praised by Hamas which has stated that they were a natural response to the violent and indiscriminatory repression the Palestinian people were experiencing in Gaza.
Impact: The East Jerusalem shooting would most probably solicitate an even stronger response from Israel on the ground in Gaza and intensify the public narrative for expediting the annexation of the West Bank. The warning from US President Trump meant to further pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining Israeli hostages would most probably be accepted by Hamas since the organization is left without any outlets for ending the war in the Gaza Strip. Israel is now left with opting for publicly accepting Trump’s peace calls or forwarding an even more intense military operation which would aggravate the already devastating humanitarian conditions and loss of human life. The probability of both Hamas and Israel engaging into a potential ceasefire agreement, especially after the shooting in East Jerusalem, remains extremely low, however, a potential breakthrough is also possible with the exerted pressure from the Qatari mediators and the US President.
