Israeli police announced on Sunday that they had arrested a “reservist” who “attempted to shoot” a Palestinian in Jerusalem, announcing that he would be prosecuted.

Palestinians in occupied and annexed East Jerusalem and Israeli Arabs, who make up a fifth of Israel’s population, have reported a sharp rise in incidents of racism against them since war broke out in the Gaza Strip, triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas on southern part of the Israeli territory on October 7, 2023.

“The suspect, a resident of Jerusalem, 34 years old, a reservist soldier,” came out “of his home on Friday night with his service weapon” and “looked for a victim of Arab origin,” according to the investigation.

He “forced his victim to sit on a bench” in a park and “interrogated him with the barrel of his gun against his body,” police continued. He then “marked him and attempted to shoot him, but the victim was able to escape without injury.”

A case is being filed and “he will be charged in the coming days,” police added.

In June, Israeli police said a Palestinian man was seriously wounded by a bullet in Jerusalem’s Old City during an altercation with a group of plainclothes Israeli soldiers, at least one of whom opened fire.

The group of four men, who were armed, consisted of an Israeli soldier, two reservists — all three were in civilian clothes — off duty, and a civilian, according to police.