Israeli police and medics say that a gunman opened fire Friday night near a synagogue in east Jerusalem. He killed at least seven people and hurt many more before being shot.
The shooting in the Jewish neighborhood of Neve Yaakov happened after the Israeli military killed nine Palestinians in a raid Thursday in the occupied West Bank. A tenth Palestinian was killed north of Jerusalem later that day.
A spokesman for the Magen David Adom emergency service said that three people were taken to the hospital after the shooting on Friday. A 70-year-old man was in critical condition, a 20-year-old man was in serious condition, and a 14-year-old boy was in moderate to serious condition.
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The gunman was shot and killed, according to Israeli police, who were there in large numbers.
Israel Police has shared tweets from official Instagram regarding this incident.
Terror attack in a synagogue in Jerusalem: This evening at around 8:30pm local time, a terrorist arrived at a synagogue in the Neve Ya'akov boulevard in Jerusalem and proceeded to shoot at a number of people in the area pic.twitter.com/hIrtmSpVOf
— Israel Police (@israelpolice) January 27, 2023
The attacker, according to the police, was from East Jerusalem. They said that it looks like he started shooting on the street before he got to the synagogue, where people were praying for Shabbat evening.
“This is absolutely horrific,” U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters. “We condemn this apparent terrorist attack in the strongest terms. Our commitment to Israel’s security remains ironclad, and we are in direct touch with our Israeli partners.”
Antony Blinken, who is Secretary of State, is going to visit the area next week.
Earlier, Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters got into fights after the funeral of a 22-year-old Palestinian north of Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank.