Gunmen shoot dead 7 outside synagogue as violence escalates in Jerusalem terror
At least seven people have been killed after a Palestinian gunman opened fire outside a synagogue in Jerusalem.
In a deadly attack on Friday night, police said the gunman started firing outside the synagogue in Neve Yaakov at 8.15pm.
A number of people were killed, and TV footage showed several victims lying in the road outside the synagogue as paramedics desperately worked to try and save them.
Police said the gunman tried to flee the scene in a car, but he was eventually shot dead by security forces. Detectives have released a photo of the pistol they say was used in the attack.
The death toll currently stands at seven, with a 70-year-old woman among those who died. An additional three people were injured, including a 16-year-old boy and a woman in her 60s.
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Palestinians celebrate in Gaza City after a Palestinian gunman opened fire outside the east Jerusalem synagogue (Mahmoud Issa/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)In a separate attack on Saturday, a Palestinian gunman opened fire near the historic Old City of Jerusalem, wounding at least two people.
The victims, two men aged 23 and 47, were being treated for gunshot wounds in their upper bodies, paramedics said.
They were fully conscious and in moderate to serious condition in the hospital, the medics added. There was no immediate word on the condition of the attacker.
At least seven people were killed in the shooting outside the synagogue in Neve Yaakov area of Jerusalem (ATEF SAFADI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly described Friday's attack as "horrific" in a statement published on Twitter.
He tweeted: "Appalling reports of a terror attack in Neve Yaakov this evening. To attack worshippers at a synagogue on Holocaust Memorial Day, and during Shabbat, is horrific. We stand with our Israeli friends."
The shootings marked the latest major escalation in one of the bloodiest months in Israel and the occupied West Bank in several years.
Israeli police had launched a security crackdown early on Saturday following the terror attack on Friday near the synagogue.
Officers fanned out into the gunman’s neighbourhood of At-Tur in east Jerusalem and arrested 42 family members, neighbours and others close to him for questioning, Associated Press reported.
The gunman was shot dead by police after carrying out the terror attack (Mahmoud Illean/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Police Chief Kobi Shabtai beefed up security forces and instructed police to work 12-hour shifts, the statements said, urging the public to call a hotline if they see anything suspicious.
The earlier Friday attack, which occurred as residents were observing the Jewish sabbath, came a day after an Israeli military raid killed nine Palestinians in the West Bank.
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Friday’s shooting set off celebrations in both the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, where people fired guns into the air, honked horns and distributed sweets.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the crime scene (Saeed Qaq/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)The burst of violence, which also included a rocket barrage from Gaza and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes, has posed an early challenge for Israel's new government, which is dominated by ultranationalists who have pushed for a hard line against Palestinian violence. It also cast a cloud over a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region Sunday.
Addressing reporters at Israel's national police headquarters, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had held a security assessment and decided on "immediate actions."
Palestinians burn tires and celebrate in Gaza City after a gunman opened fire outside the east Jerusalem synagogue (Ahmed Zakot/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)He said he would convene his Security Cabinet on Saturday night, after the end of the sabbath, to discuss a further response.
Netanyahu declined to elaborate but said Israel would act with "determination and composure." He called on the public not to take the law into their own hands.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the U.S. strongly condemned Friday's attack and was "shocked and saddened by the loss of life," noting it came on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
A Jewish worshipper outside the Ataret Avraham Synagogue in the Neve Yaakov neighbourhood after a fatal shooting attack in Jerusalem (ABIR SULTAN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)U.S. officials said later Friday that President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu to offer U.S. support to the government and people of Israel, calling the shootings "an attack against the civilised world".
"The President stressed the iron-clad US commitment to Israel's security," the White House said of the call.
The attack on Friday was the deadliest on Israelis since a 2008 shooting killed eight people in a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem, according to the Foreign Ministry.
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