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Attack in Neve Yaakov: Seven people were killed and at least three others injured in a shooting attack near the Ateret Avraham synagogue in Jerusalem’s Neve Yaakov neighbourhood on Friday evening.

• Five victims were declared dead at the scene and another two succumbed to injuries after reaching local hospitals.
• The shooter was later named as Alqam Khayri, 21, an East Jerusalemite with no prior record of terror activity.
• Khayri arrived at the busy synagogue, around the end of Shabbat evening prayers. He first shot an elderly woman in the street before beginning shooting at worshipers emerging from the Synagogue. He then fled the scene by car and headed for the nearby Arab neighbourhood of Beit Hanina. When faced with police officers, Khayri opened fire before being shot dead.
• Security officials told the Walla news site that Khayri had displayed considerable skill with a weapon and that they were investigating the possibility that he had received training.

The aftermath: On Saturday, Israeli police arrested over 40 of Khayri’s friends, acquaintances, and family members.

• Meanwhile, widespread celebrations were seen in the Gaza Strip and in several West Bank cities, including Ramallah, Nablus and Jenin.
• A second shooting attack occurred on Saturday morning. An Israeli father and son, were said to be in a serious but stable condition after being shot near the Old City of Jerusalem.  The Palestinian attacker, who was shot and wounded was identified as a 13-year-old Muhammad Aliyat.
• There were two more attempted shooting attacks later on Saturday: One at Almog junction close to Jericho, where the assailants gun jammed, and a second attack thwarted at the entrance to the settlement of Kedumim.
• US President Joe Biden called Netanyahu on Friday night. “The president made clear that this was an attack against the civilised world,” and “stressed the ironclad US commitment to Israel’s security,” the White House revealed.
• Statements of support were also forthcoming from other Israeli allies including the UK and the UAE. A Jordanian statement condemned the attack but also included a thinly-veiled criticism of the Jenin operation.
• Organisers of the anti-government protests on Saturday night decided that the demonstrations would begin with a minute’s silence for the victims of the terror attacks and would avoid the playing of music.

• The Security Cabinet convened on Saturday night and announced a series of measures including:
  • “National insurance rights and additional benefits for the families of terrorists that support terrorism will be revoked.”
  • “Legislation on the revocation of Israeli identity cards of the families of terrorists that support terrorism will be discussed at tomorrow’s Government meeting.”
  • “Firearm licensing will be expedited and expanded in order to enable thousands of additional citizens to carry weapons.”
  • “In response to the abhorrent attacks and the celebrations in their wake, Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided on steps to strengthen settlement that will be submitted this week.”
• Police also fear potential price tag revenge attacks against Arab Israelis. Prime Minister Netanyahu appealed for restraint in his immediate comments. “Our hearts are with the families,” he said. “I commend the police officers who took action so quickly. We must act with determination and composure. I call on people not to take the law into their own hands.”
• On Sunday morning the mapping and sealing of Khayri’s home was expediated ahead of its demolition.
• Five people remain hospitalised but in stable condition following the two attacks in Jerusalem.

Context: The death toll of seven makes the Neve Yaakov attack the deadliest suffered by Israel since 2011, and the costliest Palestinian-perpetrated attack since 2008, when an East Jerusalemite terrorist killed eight Israelis at the city’s Mercaz Harav yeshiva.

• No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, though Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad praised it as a response to Friday’s IDF raid in Jenin in which nine Palestinians, including seven combatants, were killed.
• The first intifada (late 1980s) was characterised as a popular uprising and the second (from 2000) was notable for being led by organised terror organisations. This latest period which began in March 2022 has neither of those features and is led by localised cells and ‘lone wolf’ attackers.
• Security experts are divided over the effectiveness of swift demolitions of terrorist homes; whether this disincentives future attacks or encourages them.
• Since last March there have been several deadly terror attacks that have resulted in 30 Israelis killed. In the same period 150 Palestinians have also been killed, though over 90% were engaged in some form of combat.
• The second attack’s perpetrator being a thirteen-year-old child is particularly shocking, both as testimony to his exposure to incitement and indoctrination as well as his ease of access to an illegal weapon.

Looking ahead: The immediate period following lone wolf attacks is one of the most tense, as in the past deadly attacks have served as increased motivation for copycat attacks.

• Kobi Shabtai, Israel’s police commissioner, ordered officers from the elite Yamam counterterrorism unit to deploy to Jerusalem after the two attacks.
• IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, meanwhile, ordered extra troops to be stationed in the West Bank and along its security fence.
• US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is due to arrive in Israel on Monday. Yesterday he said, “We mourn those killed in the attack, and our thoughts are with the injured, including children. The notion of people being targeted as they leave a house of worship is abhorrent.”