Seven people have been killed and several injured in a shooting at a synagogue in Jerusalem, according to Israeli police.
The gunman was shot and killed and a large police presence was at the scene.
Three others were injured in the shooting, including a 15-year-old boy who was recovering from surgery, hospital officials said. The MADA rescue service said the dead were five men and two women, including a 70-year-old woman.
Police said the gunman arrived at around 8.15pm local time (6.15pm UK time) on Friday and described the shooting as a “terror attack”.
They added it took place in a synagogue in Neve Yaakov, considered by Israelis to be a neighbourhood within Jerusalem, while Palestinians and much of the international community consider it occupied land illegally annexed after the Six-Day War in 1967.
Police said the gunman fled in a car after opening fire and officers gave chase and after an exchange of fire killed him.
He was described as a 21-year-old resident of East Jerusalem who “carried out the attack at the scene alone”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had held a security assessment and decided on “immediate actions”.
Mr Netanyahu urged people not to take the law into their own hands and said Israel would act with “determination and composure”.
He said he would convene his Security Cabinet tomorrow night, after the end of the Sabbath, to discuss a further response.
Jerusalem police chief Doron Turjeman promised an “aggressive and significant” effort to track down anyone who had helped him.
Forensic experts check a body. Pic: AP
It comes after a deadly raid by the Israeli military yesterday that killed nine Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. A 10th was later killed north of Jerusalem.
Gaza militants then fired rockets and Israel responded with air strikes overnight. There were no reports of injuries.
Earlier today Palestinians marched in anger as they buried the last of the people killed by Israeli fire.
A spokesperson for the Islamist group Hamas said: “This operation is a response to the crime conducted by the occupation in Jenin and a natural response to the occupation’s criminal actions”, though he stopped short of claiming the attack.
The smaller militant group Islamic Jihad also praised but did not claim the attack.
In Ramallah, the largest city in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, some responded to news of the attack with street gatherings and outbreaks of celebratory gunfire, while outside the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem where some of the wounded were treated crowds chanted “death to terrorists”.
In a sign of the potential for further escalation, the Palestinian health ministry said three Palestinians were taken to hospital after being shot by an Israeli settler near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Israeli forces stand guard near the scene of the shooting
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply worried” by the escalation of violence and urged “utmost restraint”, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly condemned the attack, saying: “To attack worshippers at a synagogue on Holocaust Memorial Day, and during Shabbat, is horrific. We stand with our Israeli friends.”
The US condemned the “apparent terrorist attack”, with US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel saying he did not expect changes to Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Israel next week.
“This is absolutely horrific. Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to those killed by this heinous act of violence. We condemn this apparent terrorist attack in the strongest terms. Our commitment to Israel’s security remains ironclad,” he said.
