The terrorist attack occurred Friday evening in Jerusalem, Israel, while worshipers were leaving Sabbath services. Seven persons were murdered, and 10 were injured. On that one day, people all across the world paused to remember the Holocaust.
According to the Jerusalem Post:
In a terrorist incident on Friday night in Jerusalem’s Neve Yaakov neighborhood, at least eight people were killed, and ten more were injured.
Security officers shot and killed the terrorist as he fled in a vehicle on Friday night after he had opened fire on congregants leaving the synagogue.
Arab Israeli cities like Jenin let off fireworks and opened fire to celebrate.
Five terrorists were among the nine Palestinians murdered after an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation against a terror cell in Jenin earlier in the week.
The liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Red Army on January 27, 1945, is commemorated yearly on January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Israel and Jewish communities across the globe observe the Jewish month of Nisan by remembering the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and paying tribute to those who died fighting the Nazis.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre finally spoke to the press on Friday after initially remaining silent about the horrific incident. She focused on the steps taken by the Biden administration to combat antisemitism.
She did not issue a loud denunciation of the slaughter of worshippers as they left a synagogue in Jerusalem. However, when questioned further at the briefing, she did call for “de-escalation” and talk of a “cycle of violence.”
During the majority of the actual incident, reporters kept relatively quiet. Nonetheless, a few of them confronted Jean-Pierre with questions regarding whether or not the administration intended to back the two-state solution, which would result in establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
After further investigation, the initial fatality toll from the attack of eight has been reduced to seven.