The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack and Hamas — which now leads the Palestinian government — said the attack was justified. Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri: “We assure our Palestinian peoples right to defend themselves and this operation (attack) is surely a natural reaction to the continued Zionist crimes carried out against our Palestinian people, therefore the occupation is responsible for all these developments and escalation, we have continuously said that the occupation is who will be responsible for all the results coming stemming from their (occupations) aggression and escalation and therefore the problem is in the attackers and the Palestinian people are defending themselves and they have the right to do so using all the means available.”