A shooting attack in Jerusalem's northernmost neighborhood, Neve Yaakov, left several people dead. First responders were treating at least 10 injured, including some seriously. The initial death count was five but was later updated to at least seven. This was the worse terrorist attack in Israel since 2011, when 10 were killed by terrorists along the Egypt-Israel border.
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According to initial reports, the lone shooter targeted a group standing next to the synagogue Ateret Avraham, after Friday night services had ended already. Some of the victims were being treated on the site with CPR on the scene, while the rest were rushed to the hospital and were later pronounced dead.
As of 9:30 p.m., there were three injured, including one woman in critical condition. The terrorist arrived in a white car at the entrance of the prayer house around 8:15 p.m., then entered the place and shot indiscriminately. He tried to flee the place, while continually shooting, before encountering a police car with an armed officer and a volunteer about a mile away. In the ensuing shootout, he was killed.
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The shooter was from one of east Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods, with authorities saying he was 21 years old and went by the name of Alkam Hayri. It was not clear if he had an accomplice.
The attack comes a day after an IDF operation in Jenin resulted in several terrorists dead, resulting in a rocket attack overnight from Gaza. The raid in Jenin was meant to thwart an imminent large-scale terrorist attack, and led to threats of reprisal by Hamas and other terrorist groups.
US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides joined the White House in condemning the attack. "Horrific act of violence at a Jerusalem synagogue on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. I am shocked and disgusted at this heinous terrorist attack on innocent people, including children. Praying for all of the victims and their loved ones," Nides wrote on Twitter.
Following the attack, celebratory shooting was heard from the Gaza Strip, and celebrations also taking place in other Arab communities. Hamas warned that this attack was only the beginning of the revenge for the incident in Jenin.
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