Two Israelis have been shot in occupied East Jerusalem hours after a gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue, as the worst violence in years across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories continues to spiral.
Israel’s ambulance service said the two casualties were badly hurt in the incident near the Old City on Saturday morning. A police spokesperson told Israel’s Army Radio that the assailant had been “neutralised”.
The shooting came after a Palestinian gunman shot seven people dead near a synagogue on the outskirts of the city as they were leaving Shabbat prayers on Friday night.
The attack in the Israeli settlement of Neve Yaacov was the worst targeting Israelis in years. That attack, in turn, came a day after the deadliest Israeli army raid in the West Bank in two decades, in which nine Palestinians were killed, including two civilians.
Thursday morning’s operation targeted Islamic Jihad militants in the Jenin refugee camp in the north of the West Bank, triggering tit-for-tat rocket fire between the Gaza Strip and Israel in the early hours of Friday and sparking fears of a wider escalation in the decades-long conflict.
Last year was the bloodiest in Israel and the Palestinian territories since 2004, with about 250 Palestinians in the West Bank and 30 Israelis killed. Another 49 Palestinians died in the Gaza Strip in a surprise three-day Israeli bombing campaign in August.
Thirty-one Palestinians have been killed so far this month.
The US state department, along with the UN and other international mediators, have urged “utmost restraint” from both sides to de-escalate the situation.
More details soon …
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