Attack during Shabbat prayers: Seven people shot dead in Jerusalem

Israel’s police chief speaks of “one of the worst attacks in years”. Seven Israelis die when a gunman opens fire on them after visiting the synagogue. Three people were injured and the shooter was shot by the police.

The crime happened on Shabbat, the day of rest for religious Jews, in Neve Jaakov. The Israeli settlement is on the outskirts of Jerusalem, in the Israeli-occupied and annexed eastern part of the city. The shooter reportedly fired at people exiting a synagogue just after evening prayers. According to police, he was shot while trying to escape. It is said to be a member of Hamas from the Shuafat refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.

In addition to the dead, there were several seriously injured, reported the Israeli rescue service Magen Adom.

The chief of the Israeli police, Kobi Shabtai, described the attack as one of “the worst in recent years”. He said at the scene of the crime: “The assassin got here and started shooting at everyone who got in his way. Then he went back to the car and drove 300 meters further. At the intersection he met a team of police officers. He opened fire on them, they shot back and neutralized him.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir also visited the scene. They initially made no statements there.

Palestinians celebrate the act in retaliation

In the Gaza Strip and in Palestinian West Bank cities, people took to the streets to celebrate the crime. A Hamas spokesman declared the attack to be an act of revenge. On Thursday, nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, were killed in Jenin in the northern West Bank during an Israeli military operation.

During the night, Israeli air defense intercepted two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. In response, the Israeli Air Force launched attacks on targets in the Gaza Strip.

“I would speak of a turning point”

Uzi Rabi, a professor at Tel Aviv University, told Israel’s Channel 13: “I would speak of a turning point where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict switches from the secular to the religious side. And when that switch occurs, we emerge another level. In East Jerusalem there are still many who are like this assassin. These are people who get their nudge from the internet. It’s very difficult to name them. And that’s why the whole understanding of how you have to deal with this phenomenon, change fundamentally.”

A “nasty act of terrorism against Jews on Holocaust Remembrance Day”

The German Ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, condemned the act: The attack was a “nasty act of terrorism against Jews on Holocaust Remembrance Day,” he wrote on Twitter.

A spokesman for the US State Department described the attack as “absolutely appalling”. US Secretary of State Blinken will be in the region early next week for talks with the Israeli and Palestinian sides. The tense security situation is likely to overshadow this visit.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the act, according to a spokesman. It was “particularly despicable that this attack took place on a religious site and on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.”

Netanyahu announces decisive reaction

Later that evening, Netanyahu spoke up again. There had been a security assessment and he had decided on “immediate action,” he told reporters at National Police Headquarters. He will convene his security cabinet on Saturday evening to discuss further steps. He called on the public not to take vigilantism.