The scene in Ariel, in the West Bank, after an Israeli security guard was fatally shot in a terror attack. Photo: Reuters

i24 News – The military wing of Hamas on Monday claimed responsibility for Friday’s shooting attack at the entrance to the Israeli city of Ariel in the central West Bank that killed a security guard.

The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that the attack came in response to Israel’s “aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” adding that the attack was part of a chain reaction to Israel’s actions on the Temple Mount and warning of more attacks.

“The fighters of the al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank still have the sword of Jerusalem drawn for all Palestinian fighters everywhere,” the statement said.

On Friday, 23-year-old Vyacheslav Golev was shot and killed at the entrance to the Ariel settlement while shielding his fiancee from the gunfire, saving her life.

Israeli forces on Saturday arrested two Palestinian terrorists suspected of committing the terrorist attack — Youssef Sameeh Assi and Yahya Marei. The father of one of the suspects was also arrested as a key accessory for allegedly helping them escape.

Fatah’s military wing, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, was the first to claim responsibility for the attack on Saturday.

The shooting in Ariel took to 15 the tally of people killed by Palestinian terrorists in Israel and the West Bank in recent weeks.