‘’These terrible events demonstrate once again how urgent it is to reverse this spiral of violence and engage in meaningful efforts to restart peace negotiations. We call on all parties not to react to provocations,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
The European Union on Saturday ‘’strongly’’ condemned the terroprist attacks in Jerusalem.
In a statement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said : ‘’The European Union is horrified by yesterday’s appalling terror attack in a Jerusalem synagogue, that killed at least seven people and left many injured, as they attended Shabbat service, and by this morning’s attack in East Jerusalem, which left two victims injured, one seriously.’’
‘’The EU strongly condemns ache said, adding that ‘’these terrible events demonstrate once again how urgent it is to reverse this spiral of violence and engage in meaningful efforts to restart peace negotiations. We call on all parties not to react to provocations.’’
On Saturday morning, a 13-year-old resident of east Jerusalem opened fire on a group of pedestrians walking home from Shabbat services near the City of David archaeological site in Jerusalem.
A 47-year-old father and his 22-year-old son were shot by the child terrorist.
Three of the victims of the terrorist attack against the synagogue in Neve Yaakov, 14-year-old Asher Natan and married couple Eli and Natalie Mizrahi were laid to rest in funerals on Saturday night. The other victims were 56-year-old Rephael Ben Eliyahu, 68-year-old Shaul Hai, Ukrainian citizen Irina Korolova and 26-year-old Ilya Sosansky.
A further three people were injured in the attack and were taken to the Mount Scopus Hadassah-University Medical Center.
In another statement issued on the same day, related to the killing by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) of nine Palestinians during an operation in Jenin, in the West Bank, on Thursday, an EU spokesperson said: ‘’The European Union fully recognises Israel’s legitimate security concerns, as evidenced by the latest terrorist attacks, but it has to be stressed that lethal force must only be used as a last resort when it is strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.’’
‘’The EU is very concerned by the heightened tensions in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. We call on both parties to do everything possible to de-escalate the situation and to restart security coordination, which is vital to prevent further acts of violence,’’ the statement added.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said troops entered the Jenin refugee camp to foil imminent attack plans by a local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.
“This squad was a ticking time bomb. If we didn’t act, they would have,” a senior IDF officer told reporters.
“During an attempt to arrest them, the wanted men opened fire and were killed in an exchange of fire with our forces,” the IDF said. Three members of the PIJ cell were killed and a fourth was arrested, according to the military.
“The wanted men, PIJ operatives, have been involved in recent extensive terror activity, and are suspected of carrying out several shooting attacks against IDF forces, and planning other significant attacks,” the IDF said.