Israeli policemen secure a shooting attack site in east Jerusalem
| Photo Credit: AP
India on Saturday condemned the terror attack in Israel, where a Palestinian gunman opened fire outside a synagogue in East Jerusalem on Friday night, killing seven people.
“We strongly condemn last night’s terror attack in Jerusalem. We extend heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish the injured a speedy recovery,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet.
Thanking India for its statement, Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon said the embassy was “humbled by the wide support from India following the terror attack in Jerusalem on Jews going to synagogue on Shabbat”.
The Israeli police said they “neutralised” the gunman, who reportedly lived in a Palestinian refugee camp in East Jerusalem, as he attempted to escape, and arrested more than 40 people in connection with the attack so far.
The terror attack, believed to be targeting worshippers at the synagogue in Neve Yaq’ov settlement, followed protests by Palestinians over a raid by the Israeli security forces in the Jenin refugee camp in West Bank on Thursday in which nine Palestinians, including at least two civilians were killed.
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The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said they had targeted a “terror cell” at Jenin, but the Palestinian Authority said the forces targeted residents of the camp directly, and announced that they were pausing all security coordination with Israeli forces. The IDF also launched air strikes on Gaza on Friday in retaliation to rockets launched by Palestinian militants after the Jenin raid.
The attack outside the synagogue was the biggest such killing of Israeli citizens in more than a decade, and comes within a month of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being sworn in, indicating a tough challenge ahead for his government, seen to be taking a hard-line on security issues.
Mr. Netanyahu called it one of the “most severe attacks that [Israel] has known in years”.
On Saturday, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and several European countries condemned the attack. U.S. President Joseph Biden spoke to Mr. Netanyahu to condole the deaths, ahead of a planned visit next week by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel and Palestine.
“It is particularly abhorrent that the attack occurred at a place of worship, and on the very day we commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day” the spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
“The Secretary-General is deeply worried about the current escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory”, the spokesperson said, calling for “utmost restraint” by all sides in the conflict.