JERUSALEM: Seven people have been shot dead and ten others injured in a gun attack at a synagogue in East Jerusalem. This is the most killed in an attack of this kind in Israel for years.
The incident happened in the city’s Neve Yaakov neighbourhood at about 20:15 local time (18:15 GMT). Police described the attacker as a “Palestinian gunman” and said he had been “neutralised”.
Local media identified him as a Palestinian man from East Jerusalem. Speaking at the scene, Israeli police commissioner Kobi Shabtai called it “one of the worst attacks we have encountered in recent years”.
Israeli worshippers had gathered for prayers at the start of the Jewish Sabbath in a synagogue in the Jewish settlement and were leaving when the gunman opened fire. Police say that officers then shot him dead. Forensic teams are investigating a white car that appears to have been driven by the gunman. Palestinian militant groups praised the attack, but did not say one of their members was responsible.
The attack was celebrated by Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with rallies and the handing out of sweets. In the middle of the road is a smashed-up car. The windscreen on the driver’s side is punctured with bullet holes. A police forensics officer with a head torch is scouring the back of the car. They tell us to move back.
An eyewitness tells me she saw the gunman here in the street, possibly after he was shot by the police, firing into the air as security forces ran after him. This junction is a distance away from the synagogue, so it seems this is where he tried to escape.
We’ve heard a few loud bangs, possibly coming from a big Palestinian neighbourhood nearby, suggesting clashes between residents and the Israeli forces. The attack happened on Holocaust Memorial Day, which commemorates the six million Jews and other victims who were killed in the Holocaust by the Nazi regime in Germany.
“To attack worshippers at a synagogue on Holocaust Memorial Day, and during Shabbat, is horrific. We stand with our Israeli friends,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly wrote on Twitter.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “The United States condemns in the strongest terms the horrific terrorist attack.”
President Joe Biden talked with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and offered all “appropriate means of support”, the White House said. Shortly after the incident, Mr Netanyahu visited the site, as did the controversial far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.
