(CNN) — the police of Israel reported that at least seven people were killed and three wounded in a shooting near a synagogue in Jerusalem on Friday. The alleged attacker was also later killed by the action of police forces, according to police.
“As a result of the shooting attack, 7 civilians were determined dead and another 3 were injured with various types of injuries,” the police said.
The attack occurred around 8:15 p.m. local time near a synagogue on Neve Yaakov street, according to a police statement, adding that the suspected attacker fled the scene in a vehicle and was killed after a shootout with police forces. police.
The attacker, police said in a statement, was a 21-year-old resident of East Jerusalem. He appears to have acted alone, according to police. East Jerusalem is a predominantly Palestinian area of the city, which was captured by Israel in 1967.
Footage from the scene showed emergency services responding to the attack. Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was later photographed visiting the site on Friday night.
Credit: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images
The incident occurs one day after the deadliest day for Palestinians in the West Bank in more than a year, according to CNN records, when Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians and wounded several more in the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday, according to the Palestinian health ministry. A tenth Palestinian was killed in what Israel police called a “violent riot” near Jerusalem.
The US State Department on Friday condemned the “apparent terrorist attack” in Jerusalem “in the strongest terms.”
“This is absolutely horrifying,” said State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel. “Our thoughts, prayers and condolences are with those who lost their lives and those injured in this heinous act of violence.”
Israeli security forces deploy to the site of the reported attack on January 27, 2023. Credit: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Patel said the United States is “still compiling information” but the US government is “in direct contact with our Israeli partners.” Patel further reported that no change was expected in the schedule of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming trip to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank.
The European Union, France and the United Kingdom also condemned the shooting.
“I am horrified by the reports of the terrible attack on Neve Yaakov tonight. Attacking worshipers in a synagogue on Erev Shabbat is a particularly horrifying act of terrorism. The UK stands with Israel,” Neil Wigan, the British ambassador to Israel, wrote on Twitter.
Credit: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
The EU ambassador to Israel, Dimiter Tzantchev, also condemned the “senseless violence” and said in his tweet: “Terrorism is never the answer.”
And the French embassy in Israel tweeted that the incident was “all the more despicable because it was committed on this international Holocaust remembrance day.”
CNN’s Michael Conte and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.