Palestinian Gunman Kills 7 Near Jerusalem Synagogue

A Palestinian gunman opened fire outside an east Jerusalem synagogue Friday night, killing seven people, including a 70-year-old woman, and injuring three others before being shot and killed by the cops. The incident took place while locals were enjoying the Jewish Sabbath, came a day after an Israeli military raid in the West Bank killed nine Palestinians. The incident sparked celebrations in both the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with people firing weapons into the air, honking horns, and distributing sweets.

Israel's new government, which is headed by ultranationalists who have pushed for a hard approach against Palestinian violence, has faced an early challenge as a result of the recent bloodshed, which also included a rocket barrage from Gaza and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes. The incident also clouded Sunday's visit to the area by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he conducted a security assessment and made a decision on "immediate actions" while speaking to reporters at the national police headquarters in Israel. After the Sabbath had ended on Saturday, he said that his Security Cabinet will meet to discuss a follow-up action. Israel will act with "determination and calm," Netanyahu declared, though he declined to explain. He called on the public not to take the law into their own hands.

Speaking on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the United States strongly condemned the act and was "shocked and saddened" by the lives lost. Later on Friday, U.S. authorities revealed that President Joe Biden had spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express U.S. support for the Israeli government and people and to describe the killings as "an attack against the civilised world." The White House described the call as "the President stressed the ironclad U.S. commitment to Israel's security."

The gunshots took place in Neve Yaakov, an area with a strong ultra-Orthodox population, and the shooter escaped in a vehicle. According to the police, they tracked him and killed him after exchanging gunfire. In addition to the shooter, Chief Doron Turjeman of the Jerusalem Police reported seven dead and three injuries. A 21-year-old resident of east Jerusalem who appeared to act alone was the attacker, as per police. Turjeman pledged to make "significant and aggressive" efforts to find anyone who assisted him.  Police also published a picture of the gun used by the attacker. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with Israel's military chief and other top security officials, ordering them to support police and reinforce fortifications around Jerusalem, as well as for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

According to Israel's MADA rescue service, the deceased included five men and two women, including some who were 60 or older. A 15-year-old kid was recovering from surgery at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital. According to the Foreign Ministry, the incident was the worst against Israelis since a shooting in a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem in 2008. Given the date and location, it threatened to elicit a harsh response from Israel.

Rockets launched by Gaza militants into southern Israel overnight on Thursday were all either intercepted or fell in wide spaces. Israel's response was to attack sites in Gaza with airstrikes. There were no injuries recorded, and before Friday night's gunfire, calm seemed to be settling in. The strike was "revenge and a reasonable response," according to Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem in Gaza, following the fatal IDF raid on Thursday. Dozens of Palestinians gathered in spontaneous protests across the Gaza Strip to celebrate the incident in Jerusalem; some of them emerged from dessert shops carrying sizable platters of sweets to distribute.

Gunfire in celebration could be heard in Gaza City's downtown as cars honked and chants of "God is great!" came from mosque loudspeakers. Palestinians let off fireworks in a number of West Bank communities. The raid on the town of Jenin on Thursday, which resulted in the deaths of nine people, including at least seven militants and a 61-year-old widow, increased tensions, which were already high. In the West Bank, it was the single deadliest raid in 20 years. Separate clashes close to Jerusalem resulted in the death of a tenth Palestinian. As they laid the final victim of those slain a day earlier to rest, furious Palestinians marched on Friday.

After a 22-year-old Palestinian's funeral, fighting broke out between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank and other locations, although for the majority of the day, peace prevailed in the contested Jerusalem city and the blockaded Gaza Strip. That abruptly ended with the shooting in east Jerusalem, which former prime minister and opposition leader Yair Lapid called "horrific and terrible."

Israel considers the religious Jewish community of Neve Yaakov to be a part of its capital's neighbourhood. While the Palestinians want east Jerusalem to serve as the capital of their future state, Israel argues that all of Jerusalem is its undivided capital. The purpose of Blinken's journey will likely now be to ease tensions. He will probably talk about the root reasons of the conflict, the aims of the new far-right government in Israel, and the PA's decision to stop security cooperation with Israel in response for the raid. 

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby noted that the Biden administration has been in close contact with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in recent days, highlighting the "urgent need here for all parties to deescalate to prevent the further loss of civilian life and to work together to improve the security situation in the West Bank." Since the Islamist party seized control of Gaza from opposing forces in 2007, Israel and Hamas have engaged in four wars and a number of smaller clashes. Following a string of Palestinian assaults, Israel increased its operations in the West Bank last spring, which heightened tensions.

According to the leading Israeli rights group B'Tselem, 2022 was the bloodiest year in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since 2004 with close to 150 Palestinian deaths. Nearly  30 people were killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis last year where 30 Palestinians have died this year so far, aa per the  tally by The Associated Press. Most of those killed were militants. However, youths protesting the incursions and those who were not participating in the altercations have also killed. Israel claims that the goals of its raids are to destroy militant networks and prevent assaults. The West Bank, east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip were all taken by Israel during the Mideast War of 1967, adding to its 55-year, unrestricted occupation, based on the Palestinians.