At least seven people were killed before gunmen opened fire at a synagogue in occupied East Jerusalem.
After Friday’s shooting, Magen David Adom Emergency Services said it was treating 10 wounded, some in critical condition.
“What we understand is that the car stopped in front of the synagogue and the gunman came out and opened fire,” Al Jazeera’s James Bayes said from the scene. Seven people have died, including a boy.”
Police said the suspect had no previous “security record,” Bayes said.
There was no initial claim of liability. Emergency response agencies reported a total of 10 shooting victims, including a 70-year-old man and his 14-year-old boy.
Israeli police said the attack occurred in Neve Yaakov, a Jewish enclave in occupied East Jerusalem. Television footage showed several victims lying on the road outside the synagogue being tended to by paramedics.
“I heard a lot of bullets,” Mataner Almalem, an 18-year-old student who lives near the synagogue, told AFP news agency.
A police statement said there was a “terrorist attack at a synagogue in Jerusalem… the shooting terrorists were neutralized.” [killed]”.
The attacks followed a deadly Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank on Thursday at the Jenin refugee camp. Nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, were killed after dozens of Israeli soldiers attacked the suspected militants’ homes, leading to several hours of heavy fighting.
Gaza fighters then fired rockets and Israel launched air raids overnight, but exchanges were limited.
“Natural reaction”
In Gaza, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem told Reuters that Friday’s attacks were “a reaction to the crimes committed by the occupation of Jenin and a natural reaction to the criminal acts of the occupation”. He did not go so far as to claim the shooting.
It also praised Islamic Jihad in Palestine but took no responsibility for the attacks.
Israeli military raids have become commonplace, with at least 200 Palestinians (combatants and civilians) killed last year.
Israeli civilians and military have also been killed in attacks by Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories.
Friday’s shooting came amid heightened tensions. Palestinians marched angrily as they buried the last Palestinian killed by Israeli forces the day before.
Brawls erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters after the funeral of a 22-year-old Palestinian north of Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian crowds waved flags of both Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, which controls Gaza.In the streets of a town called al-Ram, masked Palestinians threw stones at Israeli police. set off fireworks at Israeli police who responded with tear gas.
Worst since 2008
Itamar Ben Gubir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, reportedly attended the scene shortly after Friday’s attacks.
There was no immediate response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Former Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called it “horrifying and heartbreaking”.
According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the shooting was the deadliest for Israelis since an attack on a Jewish seminary in 2008 killed eight people. Given the location and timing, it threatened to provoke a harsh reaction from Israel.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was scheduled to meet with the army chief and other security officials.
Months of violence in the occupied West Bank have raised fears that an already unpredictable conflict could spiral out of control and spark a wider confrontation between Palestine and Israel. .
Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and several minor skirmishes since coming to power in Gaza in 2007. Tensions have soared since Israel stepped up its offensive in the West Bank last spring.