7 Israelis killed in East Jerusalem by Islamists, thousands of Palestinians celebrate the attack with firecrackers, sweets
42 people have been taken into custody by Israeli police in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred at a synagogue in East Jerusalem on 27 January 2023. Seven people were massacred and at least three others sustained injuries in the deadliest assault of its kind in recent years.
Gunshots are clearly heard in videos of the moment when the attack took place.
A 21-year-old Palestinian terrorist opened fire at the synagogue in East Jerusalem, killing seven people and wounding three others. According to police, the terrorist arrived by car at 8:13 pm. in the Jewish East Jerusalem area and opened fire at people outside the synagogue and others on the road.
Five men, aged 20, 25, 30, 50, and 60, and two women, aged 60 and 70 were killed in the attack.
The terrorist then fled by car towards the Palestinian neighbourhood of Beit Hanina, but he was confronted by police around 5 minutes later. He got out of the car and opened fire on the police while trying to escape on foot. The police returned fire and he was shot dead in the firing. A handgun used in the attack was seized. The terrorist has been identified by the Shin Bet security agency as 21-year-old Alqam Khayri,a resident of East Jerusalem with no prior terror-related offences.
Israeli police described it as a “terror attack”, and said that it took place in a synagogue in Neve Ya’akov, which is considered by Israelis as a neighbourhood within Jerusalem. But Palestinians and several countries consider it occupied territory, which was annexed by Israel after a war in 1967.
Following the tragic terrorist assault on Friday evening, Israel’s Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai was ordered to increase the alert to the highest level on Saturday morning. A police spokeswoman had said that beginning on Saturday morning, officers will perform 12-hour shifts.
Chief Superintendent Yaakov Shabtai, the commissioner of police, issued a statement requesting, that the public immediately report any suspicious individuals or objects to the police hotline 100.
In another ghastly incident, two individuals were hurt in a shooting on the exterior of the Old City in the Silwan area, just outside the old and walled city of East Jerusalem, according to Israeli Army Radio and Israel’s rescue emergency response service Magen David Adom (MDA).
A 47-year-old father and his 23-year-old son were described as having “gunshot wounds to their upper torso,” as per an MDA representative. The son was an off-duty officer in the Paratroopers Brigade, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), who had managed to shoot and hit the assailant despite his injuries.
According to a police spokesman, the incident on Saturday (28 January 2023) was a “terrorist attack,” and the perpetrator, a 13-year-old Palestinian, named Muhammad Aliyat, a resident of Silwan was “neutralized and injured.”
After the two incidents, Kobi Shabtai directed that a squad of officers from the prestigious Yamam counter-terrorism unit be stationed in Jerusalem.
Senior police officers promised to beef up their presence nationwide, especially in the capital, they told Kan public broadcaster. IDF head Herzi Halevi also gave orders to enhance force levels in the West Bank and along its security fence in order to fortify against potential regional escalation. These orders were in addition to the police’s reinforcement.
Additionally, police have stated that they are worried about potential “price tag” retaliation attacks against Arabs.
Palestinians celebrate the attack
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad praised the attack, calling the victims terrorists. But none of them took responsibility for the attack. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem lauded the attack, saying it proved “the resistance knows how to find the appropriate response” to Israeli “crimes.”
Celebrations broke out in Gaza after the news of the death of 7 Israelis in the attack emerged. Several videos have emerged on social media showing Palestinians celebrating the terror attack by distributing sweets, bursting firecrackers, and dancing on the streets.
Large crowds of Palestinians on the streets of Gaza can be seen celebrating, and raising anti-Israel slogans. Videos showed fireworks, celebratory gunfire, drivers honking horns, bonfires and crowds chanting Allah hu Akbar in the streets. At several locations across the Gaza Strip, dozens of Palestinians came out to the streets to celebrate the attack, with some coming out of dessert shops with large trays of sweets to distribute.
In Gaza City, Allah Hu Akabar chants were played on loudspeakers, while people fired guns in the air and honked car horns. Similar celebrations were also seen in the West Bank city of Hebron.
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