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Hezbollah praises Jerusalem synagogue shooting

Hezbollah praises Jerusalem synagogue shooting

Deputy leader of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem. (Credit: NNA)

BEIRUT — Hezbollah on Saturday praised an operation in which a Palestinian gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue in one of the deadliest attacks in Jerusalem in years.

The party described the mass shooting as "a heroic martyrdom operation." 

The shooting occurred Friday night at a synagogue in East Jerusalem, the sector of the city annexed by Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War.

The attack comes after Israeli forces killed at least nine people during a raid Thursday at the crowded Jenin refugee camp, where gunshots rang through the streets and smoke billowed from burning barricades.

In a statement, Hezbollah said, "this brave operation confused the enemy and revealed the vulnerability of its security and measures and instilled fear and worry in the hearts of its entity and settlers."

"This operation is a quick, bold and assertive reaction to the attack and massacre which the zionist enemy committed in the Jenin camp and a strong slap to the radical and corrupt [Israeli] government."

Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem tweeted: "We congratulate and support the special Jerusalem operation, in reaction to the crimes and occupation from the Zionists. The future is for Palestine to be liberated through these brave and fighting people. The time for Israel to collapse is approaching."

After the announcement of the operation on Friday night, Palestinians living in the Ain al-Hilweh Refugee Camp in Saida celebrated the attack by marching and firing gunshots into the air, L'Orient Today's correspondent in the area reported.

Reporting contributed by Muntasser Abdallah.

BEIRUT — Hezbollah on Saturday praised an operation in which a Palestinian gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue in one of the deadliest attacks in Jerusalem in years. The party described the mass shooting as "a heroic martyrdom operation." The shooting occurred Friday night at a synagogue in East Jerusalem, the sector of the city annexed by Israel after the 1967 Six-Day...