Two Israeli settlers injured after gunman opens fire in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem

Two Israeli settlers were shot in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, Israeli police said. 

Medical sources said the two men, aged 48 and 50, had sustained moderate injuries and were receiving medical care. 

The suspect believed to be Palestinian, is still at large, according to the police. 

"Large police forces of the Jerusalem district continue to conduct extensive searches in the area and more distant circles," a police statement said. 

A video online showed a young man approaching a vehicle and opening fire from a weapon before fleeing the scene. 

"The weapon he used in carrying out the Carlo-type attack was caught during the searches by the police," the statement added. 

Undercover Israeli police officers raided multiple homes in Sheikh Jarrah searching for the suspect. Police also enforced a shutdown in the area preventing cars and people from moving into the centre of the neighbourhood. 

Police announced they had found the perpetrator's gun near the scene of the attack, which took place near the tomb of Simeon the Just - Shimon Hatzadik in Hebrew - a site frequented by religious Jews.

The weapon was identified as a Carlo makeshift submachine gun, which Palestinians manufacture in the occupied West Bank.

Hadassah Hospital said they received a 48-year-old gunshot victim in moderate condition, and Shaare Zedek medical centre said it was treating a man in his 50s, also moderately wounded.

Sheikh Jarrah was the focal point of protests against the forcible eviction of Palestinian residents by illegal Israeli settler organisations in the build-up to and during the May 2021 war between Israel and Gaza militants.

Media coverage: "Footage documenting the shooting operation in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah earlier this morning in which two colonial Israeli settlers were injured". pic.twitter.com/GLkLM4exLc

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 18, 2023

The attack occurred a day after a Palestinian woman stabbed and moderately wounded an Israeli man at the Gush Etzion junction in the southern occupied West Bank.

The woman was shot by security forces and taken to hospital in moderate condition.

The conflict has this year claimed the lives of at least 96 Palestinians, 19 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian, according to an AFP count based on Israeli and Palestinian official sources.

These figures include, on the Palestinian side, combatants and civilians, including minors, and on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, including minors, and three members of the Palestinian community with Israeli citizenship.