Europe 1 with AFP 6:39 p.m., January 29, 2023
On Saturday, after two Palestinian attacks in East Jerusalem, one of which killed seven near a synagogue, Israel's prime minister promised a "strong" and "robust" response to terrorism.
He also said he wanted to propose to the security cabinet a facilitation of obtaining licenses to carry weapons for civilians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday promised a "strong" and "robust" response to "terrorism" after two Palestinian attacks in East Jerusalem, one of which killed seven near a synagogue.
"Our response will be strong, quick and precise," Netanyahu said ahead of an emergency meeting of the select security cabinet.
"We are not looking for escalation but we are ready for any scenario."
On Friday evening, a 21-year-old Palestinian fired on passers-by near a synagogue in the Neve Yaacov neighborhood, killing seven people before being shot.
On Saturday morning, a 13-year-old Palestinian shot and wounded two Israelis in Silwan, a stone's throw from the Old City walls.
Committed in East Jerusalem, the eastern part occupied and annexed by Israel, this new violence comes against the backdrop of a sudden escalation after the death Thursday of nine Palestinians, including fighters and a sixty-year-old, in an Israeli army raid in Jenin, in West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967. Israeli forces have been placed on high alert, and the army has announced to reinforce its troops in the West Bank amid growing calls for restraint from abroad .
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected in Jerusalem and Ramallah on Monday and Tuesday to discuss measures for de-escalation.
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arm the civilians
Returning to power in December with the support of far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish formations, Mr. Netanyahu promised on Saturday an “accelerated process” of sealing and demolishing the homes of those responsible for anti-Israeli attacks.
A policy denounced as collective punishment by human rights NGOs.
He also said he wanted to propose to the security cabinet a facilitation of obtaining licenses to carry weapons for civilians, and to cut Social Security to "families who support terrorism".
"When civilians have weapons, they can defend themselves," Israeli Homeland Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right figure, told reporters.
In the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, the assailant, armed with a pistol, wounded a father and his son, a soldier, aged respectively 47 and 23, according to the police and the emergency services, before being injured by passers-by armed, then arrested.
Friday's attack, carried out on the evening of World Holocaust Remembrance Day, sparked outrage in Europe and the United States, as well as condemnation from Arab governments with ties to Israel, such as Egypt, Jordan or the United Arab Emirates.
Both attacks were carried out by Palestinians from East Jerusalem but have not been claimed.
The identities of the seven who died on Friday have not yet been released by police.
Israeli and Palestinian media have identified the assailant in Neve Yaakov, a Jewish settlement neighborhood, as Khayri Alqam, who has been widely praised on Arabic-language social media accounts.
New Intifada?
Calling the attack a "particularly heinous" crime, UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply concerned about the escalation of violence".
The Palestinian Authority refrained from condemning it and held that Israel was "fully responsible for the dangerous escalation".
On Thursday, nine Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military raid in Jenin in the West Bank, presented by Israel as a preventive action against a cell of the Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad.
The following night was marked by rocket fire from Gaza into Israel and Israeli strikes on this micro-territory without any casualties.
Israeli opposition MP Mickey Levy says he fears 'what happened 20 years ago (is starting to) happen now' in a reference to the Second Intifada, the Palestinian uprising from 2000 to 2005 "We have to think about how we can act to put an end to the situation," he told AFP as Netanyahu's coalition advocates for the hard way against the Palestinians and the continuation of occupation in the West Bank.
In Tel Aviv, a few tens of thousands of people, much fewer than the two previous Saturdays, demonstrated against the government and its contested project to reform the justice system.
The demonstrators marked a minute of silence in memory of the victims of Neve Yaacov.