The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they happen.
Washington shooter told police, ‘I did it for Gaza,’ court documents say
Elias Rodriguez, the man who allegedly killed two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, last night approached police on the scene after the shooting and told them, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” according to court documents.
As police escorted him from the building, Rodriguez shouted, “Free Palestine,” an affidavit filed by FBI investigators says.
The document says police reviewed security footage showing Rodriguez walked past the victims outside the museum, then turned, pulled a firearm from his waistband, and shot them in the back.
After the victims fell to the ground, he approached them and fired several more times, as one of the victims, Sarah Milgrim, attempted to crawl away from him. Milgrim then sat up while Rodriguez reloaded, and he shot her again, the video shows, according to the affidavit.
Investigators recovered 21 empty shell cases and a 9mm handgun from the scene taht matched a firearm Rodriguez purchased in Illinois in 2020. He flew from Chicago to Virginia with the firearm in his checked baggage, the affidavit says.
Rodriguez late told detectives that he admired Aaron Bushnell, an anti-Israel activist who self-immolated outside the Israeli embassy last year, calling Bushnell a “martyr.” Rodriguez also said he had bought a ticket to the event at the museum three hours before it started.
Jordan condemns DC shooting of Israeli embassy staffers
Jordan issues a statement condemning yesterday’s shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers.
“The government of Jordan has always stood firmly against violence targeting civilians, and we will continue to condemn such acts. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to peace and the protection of civilians,” says the statement from Jordan’s embassy in Washington.
Suspect in Israeli embassy aides shooting charged with first-degree murder
The US Justice Department has charged the lone suspect in the fatal shooting of a pair of Israeli embassy aides outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, with two counts of first-degree murder on Thursday, according to a court filing.
WSJ: IDF targeted meeting of Hamas’s highest-ranking operatives in strike that killed Muhammad Sinwar
Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar was killed in a May 13 IDF airstrike targeting a meeting of the terror group’s highest-ranking operatives, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Among the other top operatives killed was Mohammad Shabana, the commander of the group’s Rafah brigade, WSJ says.
The Hamas leaders had been gathering in a tunnel beneath the southern Gaza city of Khan Yonis to discuss their approach to ceasefire talks with Israel when they were hit, WSJ reports.
The meeting went against Hamas’s wartime security protocols, creating an opening for Israel to target a group of high-level operatives at once, WSJ says.
The IDF has yet to confirm that Sinwar was killed in the strike.