Israeli policemen guard the site where attackers were shot dead inside al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, on July 14, 2017. Two Israeli police officers succumbed to their wounds in hospital, the police chief said, after three Arab citizens of Israel shot them in an attack in a holy site in East Jerusalem on Friday. The assailants, residents of the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm in central Israel, were killed by a police force. (Xinhua/Muammar Awad)
JERUSALEM, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Two Israeli police officers succumbed to their wounds in hospital, the police chief said, after three Arab citizens of Israel shot them in an attack in a holy site in East Jerusalem on Friday.
The assailants, residents of the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm in central Israel, were killed by a police force.
The gunmen, armed with two rifles and a gun, arrived at the al-Aqsa mosque compound, a major sacred site in East Jerusalem on Friday morning. After the morning prayer, they walked towards the Old City gates nearby and opened fire at a group of police officers, according to, Luba Samri, a spokeswoman with the police.
The attackers injured three officers before they escaped towards one of the mosques in the area. A police force found them after a short manhunt and shot them dead, Samri said.
The police officers were evacuated to hospital together with a third officer, who suffered moderate wounds, according to a spokesperson with the emergency medical service.
After less than five hours, police chief, Roni Alsheikh, announced that two of them died in hospital.
