Seven dead in Jerusalem synagogue shooting
A gunman has killed at least seven people and wounded 10 others in a synagogue on the outskirts of Jerusalem in an attack that heightened fears of a spiral in violence, a day after the deadliest Israeli raid in the West Bank in years.
Emergency services work at the scene of a shooting at a synagogue in Neve Yaakov area of Jerusalem, Israel, 27 January 2023 Photo: Atef Safadi/ETA
Police said the gunman arrived about 8.15pm on Friday and opened fire, hitting a number of people before he was killed by police. TV footage showed several victims lying in the road outside the synagogue being tended to by emergency workers.
The attack, which police described as a “terrorist incident”, underlined fears of an escalation in violence after months of clashes in the West Bank culminating in a raid on Thursday that killed at least nine Palestinians.
There was no initial claim of responsibility for the synagogue attack, which took place as worshippers attended Sabbath services on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but a spokesman for the Islamist movement Hamas said the incidents were connected.
“This operation is a response to the crime conducted by the occupation in Jenin and a natural response to the occupation criminal actions,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said. The smaller militant group Islamic Jihad also praised the attack without claiming responsibility.
Israeli media said the gunman was a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem but there was no official confirmation.
Israel’s foreign office said seven people had been killed but the ambulance service put the number of dead at five.
In Gaza, news of the attack brought spontaneous rallies to the streets accompanied by an outbreak of celebratory gunfire.
Friday’s shooting came days before a planned visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel and the West Bank. The State Department issued a statement condemning the attack and said there were no changes to Blinken’s travel plans.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli jets struck Gaza in retaliation for rocket attacks which set off alarms in Isra eli communities near the border with the blockaded so uthern coastal strip that is controlled by Hamas.
In August, Israeli jets bombed targets in Gaza associated with the group during a weekend confrontation that saw hundreds of Islamic Jihad rockets launched against Israel, most of which were intercepted by air defence systems.
The months of violence in the West Bank, which surged after a spate of lethal attacks in Israel last year, have drawn fears the already unpredictable conflict may spiral out of control, triggering a broader confrontation between Palestinians and Israel.
The latest season of violence began under the previous coalition government and has continued following the election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new right-wing administration which includes ultra-nationalist parties that want to expand settlements in the West Bank.
Following Thursday’s raid the Palestinian Authority, which has limited governing powers in the West Bank, said it was suspending a security cooperation arrangeme nt with Israel.
In Jenin refugee camp, a densely packed mass of buildings and alleyways that has been a centre of militant activity and the target of repeated Israeli raids, residents said Thursday’s operation had penetrated unusually deeply into the camp.
A two-storey building at the centre of the fighting was heavily damaged and nearby houses were tainted black from smoke. In another area around the camp’s community centre, cars had been crushed by Israeli bulldozers used in the operation.
The US State Department issued a statement on Thursday saying it was deeply concerned with the violence in the West Bank and urged both sides to de-escalate the conflict.
The United Nations, Egypt and Qatar have also urged calm, Palestinian officials said.
In Australia, The Executive Council of Australian Jewry was quick to respond to the shootings.
In a statement, they said: “We are horrified by the unfolding terrorist attack in Jerusalem, during which a Palestinian terrorist entered a synagogue in the Neve Yaakov neighbourhood during the Sabbath service and shot at least eight worshippers to death, wounding many more.
To massacre civilians at prayer in a synagogue is an act of supreme cowardice and savagery and invokes the darkest moments of antisemitic history and Palestinian terrorism.
We are appalled by the ensuing scenes from across the West Bank and Gaza of fireworks and dispensing of sweets to celebrate the taking of innocent life. This represents the height of inhumanity and shows the depth of hatred and depravity that confronts the people of Israel and all those who oppose antisemitism and terrorism.
There must be no attempts at drawing an equivalence between the anti-terror raids conducted in Jenin to neutralise precisely this sort of threat and those who wantonly slaughter civilians in a sanctuary. We call on the government, media and civil society to unite against the scourge of murderous antisemitism and terrorism and to show solidarity with the State of Israel.
We are united with the people of Israel in their grief and anger. We pray for the souls of the murdered and for their families to be granted strength at this devastating time.”
Juliet Moses, spokesperson for the New Zealand Jewish Council told J-Wire: “We are deeply saddened to learn of the terror attack in Jerusalem in which eight worshippers at a synagogue were murdered, and many more injured, during Friday night prayers and as International Holocaust Remembrance Day drew to a close.
AAP/J-Wire
