At least seven Jewish worshipers were killed and several others injured when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire at a synagogue in East Jerusalem.
“The police said the shooter was driving a car and opened fire on worshippers outside a local synagogue that lasted ‘for several minutes,'” the Israel news outlet Ynet reported.
The terrorist, identified as Palestinian man Fadi Ayash, was shot down by the police as he tried to escape from the scene. “Police said the terrorist — a resident of East Jerusalem — was shot dead after he opened fire on the officers while trying to escape on foot,” The Times of Israel reported.
The Jerusalem Post reported:
At least seven people were killed and another 10 injured in a terror attack at a synagogue in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood of Jerusalem on Friday evening.The terrorist, a resident of Shuafat, opened fire at people leaving the synagogue after Friday night prayers, and was then killed by security forces after attempting to escape in a car. The terrorist was reportedly a member of Hamas.One of the attendants of the synagogue said that the police didn’t arrive at the scene for 20 minutes, they didn’t believe the callers and thought the noise came from shots in the air from nearby east Jerusalem neighborhoods. (…)A 40-year-old woman was confirmed to be among the dead.Some of the bodies of those killed were have still not been moved from the scene of the crime.MDA paramedics are providing treatment at the scene of the attack. United Hatzalah said that they are providing treatment for dozens in a state of shock on location.
Palestinian terrorist groups hailed the cold-blooded killing of Jewish worshipers. The Israel Hayom newspaper reported:
The spokesman for the Hamas terror group called the Jerusalem attack a “heroic act of revenge for the massacre in Jenin.” [A reference to Thursday’s IDF raid against a Islamist terror cell in West Bank.]A senior Islamic Jihad official in the Gaza Strip praised the attack: “The shooting is a sign that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are united against the Israeli enemy.”
A video clip on Twitter showed Palestinians in East Jerusalem distributing sweets to ‘celebrate’ the murderous act.
The synagogue attack comes as Israel faces a surge in Palestinian terror attacks. On Thursday night, Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted two Hamas rockets fired from Gaza.
Palestinian terrorist groups vowed revenge after Israeli security forces on Thursday busted a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror cell in the West Bank town on Jenin, killing 10 terrorists involved in planning imminent attacks inside Israel.
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