Seven people were killed and several injured in a shooting at a synagogue in Jerusalem, according to Israeli police.
The shooter was shot dead, and a large number of police officers were at the scene.
Several others were injured in the shooting, including a 70-year-old woman in critical condition and a 14-year-old boy in serious condition, the medical service said.
The Israeli police described it as a “terrorist attack” and said it took place in a synagogue in Neve Yaakov, which Israelis consider to be a Jerusalem area, while Palestinians and most of the international community consider this occupied land illegally annexed after the Six-Day War in 1967 .
They said the attacker was “a terrorist who was neutralized by the police” and described him as a 21-year-old East Jerusalem resident who “performed the attack on the scene alone.”
Jerusalem Police Chief Doron Turgeman vowed to make an “aggressive and significant” effort to find everyone who helped him.
The medical examiner is checking the body. Rice: AP
It happens after deadly raid by the Israeli army yesterday, nine Palestinians died in the occupied West Bank. Later, north of Jerusalem, the 10th was killed.
Then the Gaza militants rockets fired and Israel responded with airstrikes Overnight. There were no reports of injuries.
Earlier today, Palestinians marched in anger, burying the last of the people killed by Israeli fire.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told Reuters, “This operation is a response to the crime committed by the occupiers in Jenin and a natural response to the criminal actions of the occupiers,” although he did not claim the attack.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad also praised but did not claim the attack.
Speaking from the scene, Sky correspondent Alistair Buncall said: “We saw several ambulances leave the scene as we have been here for the last half hour or so.
“The situation is incredibly tense. Not far from us, in the Palestinian area, stun grenades were blown up.
“And this, of course, happened on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the attack came just hours after the start of Shabbat, Israel’s day of rest, and came just 24 hours after 10 people were killed in the West Bank yesterday, including number nine as a result of Israeli special forces raiding the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank.”
Israeli forces stand guard near the shooting site
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley condemned the attack, saying: “The attack on worshipers in a synagogue on Holocaust Remembrance Day and on Shabbat is horrendous. We support our Israeli friends.”
The United States condemned the “apparent terrorist attack” and Deputy State Department Spokesman Vedant Patel said he expected no change in Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit to Israel next week.
“It’s absolutely terrible. Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to those who died as a result of this heinous act of violence. We condemn this apparent terrorist attack in the strongest terms. Our commitment to Israel’s security remains unwavering,” he said.
