Israel: Gunman kills six in synagogue attack in east Jerusalem

A gunman killed six people in a shootout near a synagogue in east Jerusalem.

It is one of the deadliest attacks on Israelis in years, according to the country’s national emergency services.

Five others were injured in the attack, which took place in the Jewish neighborhood of Neve Yaakov.

A 70-year-old woman remains in critical condition and a 14-year-old boy remains in serious condition.

Police said the gunman was “neutralized,” a term that usually means he was killed.

Armed officers remain on site.

Secretary of State James Cleverly has described the attack as “appalling”.

He tweeted: “Appalling reports of a terrorist attack in Neve Yaakov tonight.

“To attack believers in a synagogue on Holocaust Remembrance Day and on Shabbat is appalling.

“We stand with our Israeli friends.”

Israeli rescue service Mada confirmed five deaths and said five others were injured.

The killings came a day after Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians in the West Bank’s deadliest raid in years.

Clashes elsewhere left a 10th dead.

Gaza militants had then fired rockets and Israel conducted airstrikes overnight, but exchanges were limited and followed a known pattern, allowing both sides to respond without a major flare-up.

Israel’s defense minister instructed the military to prepare for fresh strikes in Gaza “if necessary” – also to leave open the possibility that violence would abate.

Crowds of Palestinians waved the flags of Fatah, the party that controls the Palestinian Authority, and the militant Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, at the funeral of a 22-year-old man who was killed on Thursday.

Tensions have risen since Israel stepped up crackdowns in the West Bank following a spate of Palestinian attacks last spring.

Jenin, which was and has re-emerged as a key militant stronghold during the 2000-05 Intifada, has been the focus of many Israeli operations. Among the dead in Thursday’s raid were seven militants and a 61-year-old woman.

Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem last year, making 2022 the deadliest in those areas since 2004, according to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.

Last year, 30 people were killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

According to an Associated Press count, 30 Palestinians have been killed so far this year.

Israel says most of the dead were militants, but youth protesting the raids and others not involved in the clashes were also killed.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, Visit our news page.