Jerusalem: Boy, 13, suspected of ‘terror attack’ hours after gunman killed seven outside synagogue

Two people have been wounded in a suspected terror attack in Jerusalem, hours after a deadly shooting outside a synagogue.

Israel’s national emergency medical and ambulance service said it was called to a “shooting terror attack” in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan, in east Jerusalem, on Saturday morning.

Police say they sent a “large” force to the scene and that a “shooting suspect”, said to be a 13-year-old boy from east Jerusalem, was “wounded and overpowered”.

Officers said a handgun used by the boy, described by police as a “terrorist”, was recovered at the scene.

Two men, aged 23 and 47, and believed to be a father and son, were wounded in the incident. They were both taken to hospital in a “moderate to serious” condition, according to medics.

It comes after a Palestinian gunman shot seven people dead near a synagogue on the outskirts of the city on Friday.

Three others were injured in that shooting, including a 15-year-old boy who was recovering from surgery, hospital officials said.

Police said the gunman arrived at about 8.15pm local time (6.15pm UK time) and described the shooting as a “terror attack”.

They added it took place outside a synagogue in Neve Yaakov, considered by Israelis to be a neighbourhood within Jerusalem.

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”.

Israel Police said on Saturday that officers had arrested 42 people – including relatives of the gunman – as part of their investigation.

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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had held a security assessment and decided on “immediate actions” following Friday’s shooting.

Mr Netanyahu urged people not to take the law into their own hands and said Israel would act with “determination and composure”.

It comes after a deadly raid by the Israeli military on Thursday 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.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply worried” by the escalation of violence and urged “utmost restraint”.