At least seven people were killed in an attack on an East Jerusalem synagogue on Friday night. The shooting happened around 8 pm local time, near a synagogue on Neve Yaakov Street in East Jerusalem, which is a mainly Palestinian area.
The gunman has been identified as a 21-year-old resident of East Jerusalem. He was shot dead by the police later.
Muammar Awad/Xinhua/IANS
“As a result of the shooting attack, the death of 7 civilians was determined and 3 others were injured with additional degrees of injury,” police chief Yaakov Shabtai said, according to CNN.
Celebrations
Jerusalem Post reported that celebrations erupted in some parts of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem after the attack, with Palestinians trooping into the streets and handing out sweets and launching fireworks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Israelis to not take law into their hands and launch revenge attacks. “I call on the people not to take the law into their own hands. For that purpose we have an army, police and security forces. They act and will act according to the cabinet instructions,” the prime minister said.
The attack happened close on the heels of an Israeli operation in Jenin refugee camp, where nine people were killed, most of whom were gunmen belonging to terror outfit Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
In the Synagogue attack, five shooting victims were pronounced dead at the scene. Three people have been hospitalized with serious injuries. The gunman started shooting at anyone that was in his way, the police chief said. “He got in his car and started a killing spree with a pistol at short range,” he added.
