At least seven people have died and several have been injured this Friday in an armed attack on a synagogue in East Jerusalem, according to what the Israeli authorities have reported, who have described it as “terrorist”. The Islamist movement Hamas has celebrated the attack, which it has linked to the Israeli attack on a refugee camp in Jenin, in which nine Palestinians died.
“As a result of the shooting, seven civilians have died and another three have been injured with different levels of severity,” reported the Police, which has detailed that it has deployed a large police force in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood, where the shooting took place. incident.
The suspect fired from a car at a building used as a synagogue, after which he fled to the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina. The attacker, a resident of East Jerusalem, has exchanged shots with the Police and has tried to flee on foot, although he has finally been neutralized by the agents and declared dead.
The attack comes amid an escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This Friday, Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the launch of several rockets from the coastal enclave. All this just one day after nine Palestinians were killed during a military incursion by the Israeli army in the Jenin refugee camp, the deadliest incident with armed clashes in the West Bank in years.
There are at least three injured in critical condition in two hospitals in the area: a 70-year-old woman, a 20-year-old man and a 30-year-old man. In addition, there are two people in moderate condition, a minor and a 60-year-old woman.
Hamas Celebrates The Attack, But Does Not Take Credit For it
The Islamist Hamas movement, which governs the Gaza Strip de facto, has celebrated the attack through the loudspeakers of the mosques, but without taking credit for it. Likewise, shots were heard in the air in the coastal enclave while numerous motorists blew their horns shouting “God is great.”
“This heroic operation is in revenge for the martyrs of Jenin. The operation in Jerusalem is the natural response to the occupation crimes in Jenin,” Hamas spokesman Hazam Qassem said.
For its part, the Islamic Jihad celebrated “the heroic operation that shows that the enemy only understands the language of force” and “that the Palestinian people live in political and geographical unity.”
The Israeli Police have described the attack as “terrorist”, a term that in Israel is usually used for any attack committed by Palestinians for nationalist reasons, although the identity of the attacker has not yet been revealed.
International Condemnation of The Attack
The United States has already condemned the attack through the deputy spokesman of the US State Department, Vedant Patel, who has assured that US officials were in contact with their Israeli counterparts. According to Patel, they expect no changes to Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Israel next week.
The US president, Joe Biden, has ordered the national security team to offer the necessary help to Israel, as reported by the White House.
The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has also condemned the “terrorist attack” perpetrated “by a Palestinian” outside the synagogue. “There is never an excuse for acts of terrorism,” he said through the United Nations spokesman.
From the United Kingdom, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, James Cleverly, has described what happened as “horrible” and has said that his country is “with our Israeli friends”.
This article is originally published on rtve.es