Jerusalem synagogue shooting: Israel arrests 42 after deadly attackon January 28, 2023 at 11:18 am

Israeli police have arrested 42 people in connection with a deadly shooting at a synagogue in East Jerusalem on Friday.

Seven people were killed, and at least three more injured, in the deadliest attack of its kind in years.

The incident happened in the city’s Neve Yaakov neighbourhood at about 20:15 local time (18:15 GMT).

Police said two people were injured on Saturday in a separate “terrorist attack” outside the Old City.

Both Friday’s and Saturday’s attackers have been “neutralised”, police said.

Local media identified the man who attacked the synagogue as a Palestinian from East Jerusalem, who police described as a “terrorist”.

Speaking at the scene of the attack, Israeli police commissioner Kobi Shabtai called it “one of the worst attacks we have encountered in recent years”.

Israeli worshippers had gathered for prayers at the start of the Jewish Sabbath in a synagogue in the Jewish settlement and were leaving when the gunman opened fire. Police say that officers then shot him dead.

Forensic teams are investigating a white car that appears to have been driven by the gunman.

Palestinian militant groups praised the attack, but did not say one of their members was responsible.

The attack was celebrated by Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with rallies and the handing out of sweets.

A spokesperson for the Israeli military said on Saturday that they were boosting their forces in the occupied West Bank.

The shooting happened on Holocaust Memorial Day, which commemorates the six million Jews and other victims who were killed in the Holocaust by the Nazi regime in Germany.

“To attack worshippers at a synagogue on Holocaust Memorial Day, and during Shabbat, is horrific. We stand with our Israeli friends,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly wrote on Twitter.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “The United States condemns in the strongest terms the horrific terrorist attack.”

President Joe Biden talked to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and offered all “appropriate means of support”, the White House said.

Shortly after the incident, Mr Netanyahu visited the site, as did the controversial far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Saturday’s attack took place in the Silwan neighbourhood, just outside Jerusalem’s Old City.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency response service identified the victims as two men, aged 47 and 23, both with “gunshot wounds to their upper body”.

Mr Ben-Gvir promised to bring safety back to Israel’s streets but there is rising anger that he has not yet done so, says the BBC’s Yolande Knell in Jerusalem.

Tensions have been high since nine Palestinians – both militants and civilians – were killed during an Israeli military raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.

This was followed by rocket fire into Israel from Gaza, which Israel responded to with air strikes.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply worried about the current escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory”, a spokesperson said.

“This is the moment to exercise utmost restraint,” said Stephane Dujarric.

Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since the 1967 Middle East war and considers the entire city its capital, though this is not recognised by the vast majority of the international community.

Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the future capital of a hoped-for independent state.

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