At least seven people were killed by a gunman near a synagogue in east Jerusalem on Friday during early Shabbat prayers.
At least seven people were killed on Friday when a gunman opened fire during early Shabbat prayers near a synagogue in east Jerusalem before he was shot dead in the latest episode of a new round of murderous violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
• “One of the worst attacks in recent years”
“Seven civilians” were killed by an armed gunman who walked around 20:15 (18:15 GMT) on the street near this synagogue in Neve Yaacov, a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, part of the Holy City. Israel opened fire, according to a statement by the Israeli police. It was “one of the worst attacks in recent years” against Israelis, police chief Kobi Shabtai said on Israeli television.
Magen David Adom (MDA), the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross, said it had identified a total of ten bullet-hit victims, including a 70-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy.
“I heard a lot of gunshots,” said Matanel Almalem, an 18-year-old student who lives next to the synagogue.
• The suspect killed by the police
Police say the gunman, a 21-year-old Palestinian from east Jerusalem, was shot dead by officers after he fled in a car.
“I saw the terrorist arrive by car. He stopped in the middle of the intersection, opened fire from his car” and continued shooting at people who approached to help those affected, said Shalom Borohov, a 48-year-old barber who lives near the synagogue.
Israeli Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben Gvir, a figure on the extreme right, went to the scene.
• A context of tensions between Israel and the Palestinian Authority
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “immediate action” without elaborating, urging Israelis not to take justice into their own hands but to rely on the army and police. The news of the attack was followed by scenes of rejoicing in Ramallah and the Gaza Strip, with residents waving Palestinian flags, according to AFP journalists. At the scene, dozens of Israelis greeted Benjamin Netanyahu with shouts of “Death to the Arabs!”
The shooting comes the day after nine Palestinians were killed in a raid by Israeli forces in the camp of Jenin, a city in the north of the occupied West Bank. According to Israeli sources, the raid, which also injured dozens, was aimed at the Islamic Jihad group planning an attack in Israel.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, a tenth Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire in Al-Ram near Ramallah on Thursday. The United Nations has not recorded such a high number of casualties in any Israeli operation in the West Bank since it began counting the casualties of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2005.
In retaliation, rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip under the control of the Hamas movement. Israel immediately responded with attacks on the Palestinian micro-territory. No casualties were recorded in this weapon pass. In response to the Israeli raid on Jenin, the Palestinian Authority decided to end security cooperation with Israel, a first since 2020.
• Paris condemns a “particularly vile” attack
The attack, which has taken place for 36 hours in a context of renewed violence between Israelis and Palestinians, was immediately condemned by Washington.
“It’s absolutely appalling,” Vedant Patel, deputy spokesman for the State Department, told reporters. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this apparent terrorist attack,” he added.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the “particularly despicable” attack on the synagogue on Holocaust Remembrance Day. For its part, France, in a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, condemned “the appalling terrorist attack” that took place this Friday evening.
“This attack on civilians at the time of prayer and on the international day of remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust is particularly despicable,” affirmed the Quai d’Orsay.
Hugues Garnier with AFP journalist BFMTV