Attack on Jewish seminary
2008-03-06 22:26
Jerusalem - Two gunmen entered the library of a rabbinical seminary in Jerusalem and opened fire after nightfall on Thursday, killing at least seven, police and rescue workers said.
Israeli media said about 35 people were wounded.
Channel 2 TV said police special forces killed the two infiltrators.
Ambulances raced to the scene from around the city.
Hundreds of police surrounded the area and searched the campus.
The gunmen entered the library, where about 80 people were gathered witnesses said, and opened fire.
The director of Israel's rescue service, Eli Dein, said: "There are at least seven killed and 10 people wounded."
The seminary is the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in the Kiryat Moshe quarter at the entrance to Jerusalem, a well-known centre of Jewish studies identified with the leadership of the Jewish settlement movement in the West Bank. Most of the students are high school age.
Fired rifles in celebration
In Gaza, the militant Hamas stopped just short of claiming responsibility. "We bless the (Jerusalem) operation. It will not be the last."
In Gaza City, residents went out into the streets and fired rifles in celebration in the air after hearing news of the attack on the seminary.
The attack came a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice persuaded moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to return to peace talks with Israel.
It came on the same day as Egyptian officials were trying to mediate a truce between Palestinian militants and Israel.
Earlier on Thursday Palestinian militants in Gaza set off a bomb on the Gaza border, blowing up an Israeli army jeep and killing a soldier
- AP