At least 7 dead in Shabbat shooting attack on Jerusalem synagogue
A shooting attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem’s Neve Yaakov neighborhood killed at least seven people on Friday, a day after an Israeli airstrike on the West Bank city prompted vows of retaliation by Palestinian militants.
The attack took place on Friday evening as worshipers left Shabbat services. Israeli media said one of the gunmen had been “neutralized”, a euphemism for dead, but two other attackers were being sought in the area. Helicopters flew over the area.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Hamas and Islamic Jihad did not claim responsibility but praised the attack as retaliation for an airstrike in Jenin that killed at least 10 Palestinians in an operation Israel said was aimed at preventing a planned major attack. The dead attacker was a non-Israeli resident of East Jerusalem, according to police.
Neve Yaakov is one of the neighborhoods in East Jerusalem that was built by Israel after it captured the area in the 1967 Six Day War. It was built to expand the Jewish presence in the eastern parts of the city, although in recent years Palestinian Jerusalemites have been renting apartments there. It is located near the separation barrier between the borders of Jerusalem and the West Bank and near areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
Kan, Israel’s government radio network, reported that several other people were injured in the attack, citing the Magen David Adom first response service. Three were hospitalized, including a 70-year-old woman in critical condition, a 20-year-old man in serious condition and a 14-year-old boy with moderate injuries.
The attack came just days before a visit to the region by top US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA chief Bill Burns. Burns’ trip was hastily planned in response to the Jenin airstrike and promises of retaliation that threatened to ignite simmering tensions.
The Biden administration is investing in keeping the Middle East calm while focusing its energies on helping Ukraine fend off Russia’s year-long war against the country. The United States and Israeli militaries conducted a major joint military exercise this week that was widely seen as a signal to Iran, Israel’s deadliest enemy, that any major escalation would be met with massive military force.
It is the first major attack since a new Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in last month. There are ministers in the government who want to relax the rules for the deployment of the Israeli police and expand Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas.
One of them, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees internal security, traveled to the scene of the shooting on Friday night. In the past, when he was not a government minister, his visits to the scene of terrorist attacks have often prompted accusations that he is trying to heighten tensions to achieve his political goals.
