Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Who Shot Dead Soldier

Israeli police officers stand next to the body of Palestinian attacker at the scene of a shooting attack outside the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Israeli police officers stand next to the body of Palestinian attacker at the scene of a shooting attack outside the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
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Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Who Shot Dead Soldier

Israeli police officers stand next to the body of Palestinian attacker at the scene of a shooting attack outside the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Israeli police officers stand next to the body of Palestinian attacker at the scene of a shooting attack outside the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A Palestinian gunman who killed an Israeli soldier earlier this month was shot dead Wednesday after opening fire at a security guard at a West Bank settlement near Jerusalem, Israel’s prime minister said.

Yair Lapid said Uday Tamimi, from the Shuafat refugee camp near Jerusalem who was the subject of a more than weeklong manhunt, was killed by Israeli security forces.

Police commander Uzi Levy told reporters that Tamimi opened fire at security guards at the entrance of Maale Adumim.

Levy said that Tamimi was armed with a pistol and was carrying an explosive device.

Paramedics said a security guard was treated for a gunshot wound to the hand.

On Oct. 8, Tamimi allegedly fired at a checkpoint from close range, killing a 19-year-old female Israeli soldier and severely wounding a security guard before disappearing toward Shuafat. Israeli security forces placed a cordon around the refugee camp in east Jerusalem as the manhunt dragged on for days.

Lapid said that Israel “will act with a heavy hand and not hesitate against terror.”

Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the militant Hamas group that controls Gaza, said the killing of Tamimi will not stop the uprising in the West Bank.

Tamimi “will remain a national Palestinian icon,” he said, The Associated Press reported.

More than 120 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting this year, making 2022 the deadliest year since 2015. The Israeli army said most of the Palestinians killed have been militants. But stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. The area is now home to roughly 500,000 Israeli settlers. The international community widely considers the settlements illegal and obstacles to peace.

The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, for a future independent state.



Six Local Officials Detained Over Iraq Deadly Mall Fire

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visits a five-story shopping center after a massive overnight fire killed multiple people, in Al-Kut, Wasit province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visits a five-story shopping center after a massive overnight fire killed multiple people, in Al-Kut, Wasit province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS
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Six Local Officials Detained Over Iraq Deadly Mall Fire

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visits a five-story shopping center after a massive overnight fire killed multiple people, in Al-Kut, Wasit province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visits a five-story shopping center after a massive overnight fire killed multiple people, in Al-Kut, Wasit province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS

Iraq has detained six local officials and suspended other public employees following a fire that killed 61 people at a shopping mall earlier this week, authorities said Saturday.

The blaze broke out late Wednesday in a newly opened shopping mall in the eastern city of Kut.

After an initial investigation, the interior ministry said "there was clear negligence among several officials and employees" in Kut, located around 160 kilometers southeast of Baghdad.

It added that three local officials, including the head of civil defense in Kut, had been detained, and 17 employees suspended from work until further notice.

The Commission of Integrity, an anti-graft body, said later that security forces had detained three more officials "over the violations that led to the fire" at the Corniche Hypermarket Mall, including the head of the violations department at Kut's municipality.

Officials say their investigation is ongoing, and the number of detainees may change.

The cause of the mall fire was not immediately known, but one survivor told AFP an air conditioner had exploded on the second floor before the five-story building was rapidly engulfed in flames.

Several people told AFP they lost family members -- and in some cases whole families -- who had gone to shop and dine at the mall days after it opened.