Less than twenty-four hours later the deadly attack near a synagogue in East Jerusalema new shooting left two injured, a father and his son, near the Old City of Jerusalem, Saturday, January 28, according to Israeli relief. The shooter is a 13-year-old Palestinian, Israeli police said in a statement.
The attack was carried out at the City of David archaeological site in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, located on the edge of the Old City. “A 23-year-old man [est] in serious condition and a 47-year-old in moderate to serious condition with gunshot wounds to the upper body.”said a spokesperson for Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross.
The assailant, from the part of the Holy City occupied and annexed by Israel, was “neutralized and injured”, according to the police.
Earlier, Israeli police announced that forty-two people have been arrested for questioning, following the shooting that claimed the lives of seven people on Friday evening. Among them, ” some are part of the terrorist’s family”, others live in his neighborhood in East Jerusalem. In a separate statement, the police announced that the Israeli forces had been placed in a state of “highest alert”.
On Friday evening, a 21-year-old Palestinian man opened fire near a synagogue in East Jerusalem during Shabbat prayers, before being shot dead after a chase.
“One of the worst attacks” since 2008
The shooting occurred in Neve Yaakov, a Jewish settlement neighborhood in East Jerusalem, part of the Holy City annexed by Israel. Police Chief Kobi Shabtai spoke about “one of the worst attacks” suffered by Israel in recent years. According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, this shooting is the deadliest for Israelis since 2008, when an attack on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem killed eight people.
After Friday night’s attack, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu promised “immediate measures”without further details, and called on the Israelis not to take justice into their own hands but to rely on the army and the police.
The shooting happened the next day of an Israeli army raid in Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank, which claimed the lives of nine Palestinians. In the Gaza Strip, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said Friday’s attack was “a revenge and a natural response” the killing of nine Palestinians in Jenin on Thursday.