Sadness and anger at the scene of the attack on the synagogue in Jerusalem | Israel

Sorting by way of building particles at a site visitors intersection in occupied East Jerusalem, the place seven Israelis were killed By the Palestinian gunman on Friday evening, three emergency response volunteers sporting plastic gloves and hi-vis vests scraped up handfuls of blood-stained grime and positioned it in a bag.

After Saturday sundown, on the finish of Shabbat, they arrived geared up with torches, trowels and trowel knives. Their job was to make sure that each drop of spilled blood was collected for a correct Jewish burial.

Members of the native ultra-Orthodox neighborhood seemed on as the lads labored underneath the pink blaze of police and ambulance sirens. Some folks sang, prayed and chanted “dying to terrorists”. A gaggle of youngsters lit memorial candles organized within the form of a menorah.

On Friday evening, a Palestinian man recognized as 21-year-old Alqam Khayri drove into Neve Yaakov, a Jewish settlement on the outskirts of the Palestinian facet of the holy metropolis, and fired photographs at passers-by exterior a busy synagogue earlier than fleeing and being shot lifeless by police. Amongst his victims have been a 14-year-old boy, a 68-year-old Ukrainian girl and a married couple of their 40s who rushed to the scene for assist after listening to gunshots and screams. Three different folks stay in hospital.

The assault was the worst perpetrated by Palestinians in opposition to Israelis since 2008, and it occurred in the midst of nowhere escalating week of bloodshed this left 20 lifeless – Palestinians and Israelis.

For a lot of Israelis, the harrowing scene in Neve Yaakov introduced again reminiscences of the second intifada, or Palestinian rebellion, in 2000, which claimed about 1,000 Israeli and three,500 Palestinian lives. It additionally fueled fears {that a} almost a year old wave of violence raging within the north of the occupied West Financial institution is on the verge of engulfing different areas.

“We got here to the world instantly after we heard there was an assault, however Eli was lacking. We did not discover out he died till very late at evening on the hospital,” mentioned Merav Kenan, a good friend of Eli Mizrahi, who was shot at point-blank vary whereas attempting to calm the gunman down. Mizrahi’s spouse, Natali, was shot within the again whereas giving him CPR and died after being taken to hospital.

“He was man and he was courageous. It is a horrible day,” Kenan mentioned.

No Palestinian faction has claimed duty for the assault, and Khayri is believed to have acted alone, though the appreciable ability he demonstrated with a weapon led investigators to imagine he had acquired firearms coaching.

He had no safety clearance and his motives stay unclear, however Hebrew and Arab media reported that East Jerusalem, who like most different Palestinians within the metropolis had an Israeli residency allow however no citizenship rights, was named after his grandfather, who was murdered by Israeli settler in 1998.

A lawyer represented the suspect within the case, who was by no means charged Itamar Ben-Gvir. As of final month, Ben-Gvir, a far-right extremist, has been Israel’s minister of nationwide safety, an necessary member of the federal government the toughest administration within the nation’s historical past.

The brand new authorities has already promised a collection of punitive measures in opposition to Palestinians in response to Friday’s assault and Saturday’s taking pictures that injured two folks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has mentioned he’ll push for sanctions in opposition to terrorist households and this week will current steps to “strengthen settlements” – strikes which might be unlawful underneath worldwide legislation.

Nevertheless, these actions are unlikely to be sufficient to fulfill the right-wing Israeli public, Netanyahu’s base. On Saturday evening, grief in Neve Yaakov was laced with anger: younger males attending the vigil known as for an assault on Arab neighborhoods, whereas journalists from Israel’s Channel 13 have been harassed by youths who destroyed tools and shouted “leftists go house.” Precedent means that copycat and “price ticket” assaults on either side are seemingly.

“At first we thought it was a taking pictures from an Arab wedding ceremony. We hear it usually within the neighborhoods right here. Then we realized it was nearer,” mentioned 45-year-old Berta, who lives in the identical condo constructing the place the Mizrahis lived.

“I noticed one thing like this 30 years in the past, however I by no means thought it will occur once more. I believe it should nonetheless be the identical,” she mentioned. “There’s by no means peace on this place and everybody who lives right here has to get used to it.