Two people have been wounded after a 13-year-old boy allegedly opened fire in Jerusalem, hours after a deadly shooting outside a synagogue.
Israel’s national ambulance service said it was called to a “shooting terror attack” in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan, in east Jerusalem, on Saturday morning.
The teenage suspect from east Jerusalem is alleged to have opened fire on a group of five civilians.
He was tackled by two passers-by carrying licensed guns, police said.
The suspect is Palestinian, according to the Associated Press, and he was arrested and taken to hospital. A handgun was also recovered at the scene.
Two men aged 23 and 47 – thought 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.
Israeli Police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said the teenage suspect “waited to ambush civilians on the holy Sabbath day”.
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.
Read more:
Why this is a dangerous moment for Israel and West Bank
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 arrested 42 people after the shooting on Saturday
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”.
Officers have arrested 42 people – including relatives of the alleged attacker – as part of their investigation.
The incident prompted a response from Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after it was revealed that one of the victims of Friday’s shooting was a Ukrainian woman.
In a post on Twitter, he said: “We share Israel’s pain after the terrorist attacks in Jerusalem.
Read more:
Palestinian militants ‘ready to die’ as chance of all-out war increases
Israel’s most far-right government hardens policies towards Palestinians
“Among the victims is a Ukrainian woman. Sincere condolences to the victims’ families.”
He added: “Terror must have no place in today’s world. Neither in Israel nor in Ukraine.”
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”.
The scene of the shooting in Neve Yaakov
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”.
