Security guard, 20, killed in Palestinian terror attack

A 20-year-old Israeli man was murdered in a terrorist attack outside a shopping centre near the Gush Etzion junction south of Jerusalem on Thursday.

The attack occurred in the parking lot of the shopping complex, a frequent target of previous attacks.

According to initial reports, two terrorists arrived at the scene and opened fire toward the mall. Eyewitnesses said the two then attempted to enter the supermarket armed with a knife and then pounced on the Israeli victim, a security guard.

Medical teams from Magen David Adom (MDA) were dispatched to the scene shortly after the attack was reported.

“We received a report of a man injured in a shooting attack and we immediately went to the scene in large numbers,” said MDA paramedic Ahiad Goharian. “We saw a young man about 20 years old lying unconscious, without a pulse and not breathing, with gunshot wounds to his body. We performed medical examinations on him, but unfortunately, his injury was severe and we had to declare him dead.”

The Israel Defence Forces said the two Palestinians were killed by responding soldiers, not armed civilians as initially reported.

A gun was found near the terrorists, though authorities did not immediately determine whether it belonged to one of the attackers.

Security forces were quickly dispatched to the area.

“The public is asked to avoid the area and let the forces carry out their missions in the best possible way,” the Israel Police said in a statement.

Security forces launched an operation in the nearby Palestinian village of Halhul.