7 killed in Jerusalem synagogue shooting as Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalates

A Palestinian gunman killed seven people outside an east Jerusalem synagogue during the Jewish Sabbath on Friday, in one of the deadliest attacks targeting Israelis in years that risked sparking widespread violence.

The shooting came a day after a major escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including an army raid in the occupied West Bank that killed nine people, rocket fire from Gaza and retaliatory Israeli strikes.

Israel's police chief Kobi Shabtai called the shooting in the Neve Yaakov area "one of the worst attacks we have encountered in recent years." It also fell on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Also Watch: Senior Islamic State leader killed in Somalia, claims US

Police said that "at around 8:15 pm (1815 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."

"As a result of the terror attack, seven civilians were pronounced dead and three additional civilians were injured," police said.

They said the gunman fled the scene in a car but was quickly tracked down and killed in an "exchange of fire" with police.

Police have identified the gunman as a Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem, which was annexed by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War.

The surging violence comes a month after a new government, led by veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, took power.