Palestinian attacker, 13, wounds two in fresh Jerusalem attack – a day after seven were killed
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A Palestinian attacker in his teens wounded at least two people after opening fire in east Jerusalem this morning.
Police said they shot and overpowered the 13-year-old attacker, wounding him. He was taken to a hospital, they said, and there was no further word on his condition.
The shooting took place in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem, wounding at least two men, ages 23 and 47, in the upper body.
Paramedics said they were fully conscious and in moderate to serious condition at the hospital.
Yesterday, another assailant killed seven people outside a synagogue in the deadliest attack in the city since 2008.
A man on a stretcher, suspected of being the attacker, is carried into a police van by Israeli police officers at the scene of a shooting near the Old City of Jerusalem.
Israeli security forces gather in the predominantly Arab neighborhood of Silwan in Jerusalem, where an attacker reportedly shot and wounded two people.
Israeli police officers and rescue services at the scene of a shooting
The scene of the attack was cordoned off as emergency vehicles and security forces invaded the area.
The events on Saturday raised the possibility of further escalation in one of the bloodiest months in Israel and the occupied West Bank in several years.
On Friday, a Palestinian gunman killed at least seven people in a Jewish settlement with a large ultra-Orthodox population in east Jerusalem.
Police said the gunman arrived at around 8:15 p.m. and opened fire, hitting several people before police killed him.
Television images showed several victims lying on the road outside the synagogue being attended to by emergency workers.
Emergency service personnel and Israeli security forces stand near a covered body at the site of a reported attack in an Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem settler neighborhood, on January 27, 2023.
Israeli forces work near the scene of a shooting attack in Neve Yaacov
The attack, which police described as a “terrorist incident,” underscored fears of an escalation in violence after months of clashes in the West Bank that culminated in an Israeli raid on Jenin on Thursday that killed at least nine Palestinians.
A police spokesman put the death toll at seven, with others injured. The gunman was shot and killed at the scene.
The Magen David Adom emergency response service reported a total of 10 shooting victims, including a 70-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of one of the hardline nationalist parties in Netanyahu’s new government, visited the site of the attack and were greeted with mixed cheers. and boos.
The events represent a pivotal test for Israel’s new far-right government. His national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has portrayed himself as an enforcer of law and order and grabbed headlines for his promises to crack down on the Palestinians even more.
Israeli police had launched a security campaign early Saturday after the attack near the synagogue.
Victims of a shooting attack lie covered on the ground near a synagogue in Jerusalem, Friday, January 27, 2023.
Security forces fanned out to the At-Tur attacker’s neighborhood in east Jerusalem and arrested 42 family members, neighbors and others close to him for questioning. Police chief Kobi Shabtai beefed up security forces and instructed police to work 12-hour shifts, the statements said, urging the public to call a hotline if they see anything suspicious.
The attack the previous Friday, which occurred as residents observed the Jewish Sabbath, came a day after an Israeli military raid killed nine Palestinians in the West Bank. Friday’s shooting sparked celebrations in both the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where people fired weapons into the air, honked their horns and distributed sweets.
The outbreak of violence also included a rocket barrage from Gaza and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes, and also cast a shadow over US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to the region on Sunday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had carried out a security assessment and decided on “immediate action”. He said he would convene his Security Cabinet on Saturday night, after the end of Saturday, to discuss a further response.