No fewer than seven people were killed in a shooting outside a synagogue in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on Friday, with the gunman killed at the scene.

A statement issued by the police read: “Earlier this evening at around 8:30 pm (1830 GMT), a terrorist arrived at a synagogue in the Neve Yaakov boulevard in Jerusalem and proceeded to shoot at a number of people in the area.

“Police forces quickly arrived at the scene, engaged with the terrorist and opened fire at him. The terrorist was neutralised.”

A police spokesman disclosed that seven people had been killed.

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Police were seen dismantling a white vehicle at the scene, believed to have belonged to the shooter.

Fadi Dekidek, a paramedic with the Magen David Adom emergency response agency, said “this is a very serious terror attack”.

The MDA reported a total of 10 gunshot victims, including a 70-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy.

“I heard a lot of bullets,” Matanel Almalem, an 18-year-old student who lives near the synagogue, told AFP at the scene.

The Star