JERUSALEM — A gunman entered the library of a rabbinical seminary and opened fire on a crowded nighttime study session Thursday, killing eight people and wounding nine before he was slain, police and rescue workers said. It was the first major militant attack in Jerusalem in more than four years.
Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip praised the operation in a statement, and thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza to celebrate.
The day’s violence, which also included a deadly ambush of an army patrol near Israel’s border with Gaza, was likely to complicate attempts by Egypt to arrange a truce between Israel and Palestinian militants. The U.S. is backing the Egyptian effort.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev and moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the shooting. But Regev said the Palestinian government must take steps against the extremists, not just denounce their attacks.
“Tonight’s massacre in Jerusalem is a defining moment,” he said. “It is clear that those people celebrating this bloodshed have shown themselves to be not only the enemies of Israel but of all of humanity.”
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who only on Wednesday persuaded Abbas to return to peace talks with Israel, called the attack an “act of terror and depravity.”
Israeli defense officials said the attacker came from east Jerusalem, the predominantly Palestinian section of the city. Jerusalem’s Palestinians have Israeli ID cards that allow them freedom of movement in Israel, unlike Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the attacker walked through the seminary’s main gate and entered the library, where witnesses said some 80 people were gathered. He carried an assault rifle and pistol, and used both weapons in the attack. Rosenfeld said at least six empty bullet clips were found on the floor.
Two hours after the shooting, police found the body of the eighth victim. Rescue workers said nine people were wounded, three seriously.
David Simchon, head of the seminary, said the students had been preparing a celebration for the new month on the Jewish calendar, which includes the holiday of Purim. “We were planning to have a Purim party here tonight and instead we had a massacre,” he told Channel 2 TV.
The seminary is the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in the Kiryat Moshe quarter at the entrance to Jerusalem, a prestigious center of Jewish studies identified with the leadership of the Jewish settlement movement in the West Bank.
Hamas stopped just short of claiming responsibility for the Jerusalem shootings. “We bless the operation. It will not be the last,” Hamas said in a statement sent by text message.
The attack came on the same day Egyptian officials were trying to mediate a truce between Palestinian militants and Israel. The proposal, backed by the U.S., would stop rocket fire on Israel in exchange for an end to Israeli attacks on militants and the resumption of trade and travel from Gaza.
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