The police spoke of a terrorist attack in the attack in Jerusalem. Two men suffered gunshot wounds to the upper body, their condition was “moderate to severe”, an emergency services spokesman said. The alleged killer was “neutralized”, according to the police. It was unclear if he was injured or dead. Public broadcaster Kan reported that the attacker was only 13 years old.
Saturday’s attack took place in the Silwan district of East Jerusalem. Mostly Palestinians live here. In the evening, another Palestinian gunman opened fire near the West Bank city of Jericho, the Israeli army said. So he ran away. No one was hurt. The military is looking for the man. Surveillance camera footage shows the assailant was armed with an assault rifle, Israeli media reported. But there were problems with his weapon, which probably prevented further shooting and casualties.
Another attack on Israel
On Saturday there was another attack in Israel, in which the killer is said to have been just 13 years old. Two were injured in the gun attack. Violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories continues to rise.
Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. In total, over 600,000 Israeli settlers live in these areas today. The Palestinian Authority blamed Israel for the renewed violence. Israel bears “full responsibility for the dangerous escalation,” the official said on Saturday. She did not specifically comment on the current attacks.
Portal/Ammar Awad says Sunday’s gun attack came from a 13-year-old boy
Dozens detained after Friday attack
Friday’s assailant was shot dead as he tried to flee, police said. According to initial findings, he was a 21-year-old from East Jerusalem. He is said to have waited in front of the synagogue in New Yaakov, an Israeli settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, until the believers left the synagogue. Then he opened fire.
Police arrested dozens of people after Friday’s attack. Police said on Saturday that among the 42 people arrested for questioning were family members of the killer and other residents of his district. According to initial findings, the killer did not belong to a Palestinian armed group, nor was he involved in militant activities.
Israel strengthens forces in the West Bank
Police were placed on high alert after the attack. Israel Police Chief Kobi Schabtai spoke of “one of the worst attacks in years”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “immediate countermeasures”.
Netanyahu and right-wing Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the crime scene at night. Netanyahu urged the population not to take justice into their own hands. “We have an army and a police force for that, which take instructions from the cabinet.” The Israeli military announced on Saturday that it would reinforce the armed forces in the West Bank with an additional battalion.
AP/Mahmoud Illean officers guarded the scene of the attack at a synagogue on Friday night.
international consternation
The attack on Holocaust Remembrance Day sparked international outrage. Numerous states condemned the attack, including the EU, US, France, Britain, Jordan, Turkey, UAE, Ukraine and Russia.
The European Union has asked Israel to use lethal force only as a “last resort”, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Saturday. The EU condemns the attacks in Jerusalem as “insane acts of violence and hatred”, Borrell said. He also noted in his statement that Israeli security forces have killed 30 Palestinians in the West Bank since the beginning of the year. There is an urgent need to make significant efforts to resume peace talks, Borrell said. “We appeal to all parties not to react to provocations.”
“Spiral of Violence”
French President Emmanuel Macron warned the warring parties “to avoid a spiral of violence at all costs”. The Austrian Foreign Ministry also condemned the attack “strongly”. “There is no excuse for attacking places of worship,” the State Department wrote on Twitter. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen called for de-escalation.
The US described Friday’s attack as “absolutely terrible”. Washington condemns this “suspected terrorist attack in the strongest possible terms,” a State Department spokesman in Washington said.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken wants to try to de-escalate during an upcoming visit to the Middle East on Monday and Tuesday. He wants to travel to Israel, the occupied West Bank and Egypt. He will meet Netanyahu for the first time since he took office as head of the far-right Israeli government. A meeting with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is also planned.
Russia also urged the warring parties to exercise “the greatest possible restraint”. “We are deeply concerned about the development of events,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attacks as cynical terrorist attacks.
praise from Hezbollah
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank responded with celebrations. Eyewitnesses reported militants firing into the air and taking to the streets on Friday night. A spokesman for Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, said the attack was “in retaliation for the Israeli army’s attack on the Jenin refugee camp on Thursday”. Iran-backed Hezbollah praised the attack.
“Anti-terror operation” in refugee camps
The attacks in Jerusalem followed an Israeli attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank last Thursday. The Israeli army spoke of an “anti-terrorist operation”. Furthermore, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, a man was killed by Israeli soldiers in al-Ram, near Jerusalem, on Thursday. In response, Palestinian militants fired rockets, which were intercepted.
The Palestinian Authority announced its cooperation with Israel on security matters late on Thursday. The official cited unilateral measures and measures taken by Israel in the West Bank and the incidents in Jenin as the reason. The autonomy authority has made similar announcements on previous occasions, but they have not actually been implemented.