A 13-year-old Palestinian youth is the main suspect in a shooting attack on Saturday (28) that left two men injured in East Jerusalem. The case took place in the neighborhood of Silwan, outside the Old City, an area annexed by Israel.
The teenager was neutralized and injured by the Security Forces. The two victims, according to information from the international press, would be father and son. The case marks an escalation of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
escalation of violence
A shooting attack on Friday night (27/01) near a synagogue in a Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem left seven dead and three injured.
The attack, which took place one day after the death of ten Palestinians after an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp, is the deadliest that has occurred in recent years in the territory of Israel and rekindles fears of a new escalation in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “immediate countermeasures”.
“We will act decisively and calmly,” Netanyahu said, urging the population “not to take justice into their own hands.”
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The author of the attack tried to flee, but was killed by agents of the local security force. His identity was not disclosed, but according to local media, he is a 21-year-old Palestinian. According to the correspondent of the German public broadcaster ARD Jan-Christoph Kitzler, he is a member of the Islamic extremist group Hamas. The police are still investigating the involvement of other people in the crime.
The attack took place at 20:15 (local time) in a street near the synagogue in Neve Yaacov, a Jewish settlement neighborhood in East Jerusalem, as several people were leaving evening prayers.
Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was “in retaliation for the Israeli army’s attack on the Jenin refugee camp”.
international reactions
UN Secretary-General AntĆ³nio Guterres “strongly” condemned the attack.
“It is particularly despicable that this attack took place in a place of worship and on the date that marks the International Holocaust Remembrance Day”, underlined StĆ©phane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres.
“The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the current escalation of violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” he said.
The US government also condemned “in the strongest terms” the “apparent terrorist attack”
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“We stand in solidarity with the Israeli people,” said Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel. Then US President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Netanyahu.
The US also highlighted that the trip of the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, to Jerusalem and Ramallah next week is maintained. He is going to discuss “measures to be taken for a ‘de-escalation’ of tensions”.
The Brazilian government, through Itamaraty, issued a note reiterating “that there is no justification for resorting to violence, especially against civilians” and showing solidarity with the families of the victims.
Israeli incursion
A military raid on Thursday in the Jenin refugee camp turned into a firefight, resulting in the deaths of at least nine Palestinians. Similar clashes in other parts of the West Bank resulted in more fatalities.
Since then, in Gaza, Hamas militants have fired rockets at Israel, which has responded with air strikes.
*With information from German wave
Editing: Douglas Matos
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
