Egypt UAE condemn synagogue attack in East Jerusalem

ISTANBUL (AA) – Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday condemned an attack in an Israeli settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, in which at least seven settlers were killed.

A Palestinian gunman carried out a shooting attack near a synagogue in Neve Yaakov settlement Friday night. Israeli police said the attacker was shot dead as he attempted to escape the scene on foot.

The attack came one day after nine Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.

In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry expressed “its total rejection and strong denunciation” of the attack and reiterated its condemnation of “all operations that target civilians.”

The ministry warned of the grave dangers of the ongoing spiral of violence between Palestinians and Israelis and called for exercising maximum self-restraint and “halting all assaults and provocative measures to avoid slipping into a vicious cycle of violence…that undermines all chances of reviving the peace process.”

The UAE Foreign Ministry also strongly condemned “these criminal acts” and expressed rejection of “all forms of violence and terrorism aimed at undermining security and stability in contravention of human values and principles.”

Egypt was the first Arab country to normalize relations with Israel following the signing of their peace treaty in 1979.

The UAE, along with Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, signed US-sponsored agreements to normalize ties with Israel in 2020.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report.