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Eight people have been killed and nine wounded by a Palestinian gunman who infiltrated a Jewish seminary in West Jerusalem, Israeli officials say.
Witnesses said the gunman went into a crowded hall during dinner at the Mercaz Harav seminary in the city's Kiryat Moshe quarter and opened fire.
The assailant, who Israeli police said was a resident of East Jerusalem, was shot dead by an Israeli army officer.
The attack is the worst of its kind in Israel for a number of years.
The BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen says the Israeli government will be under immense pressure to respond - and it will, even though it is not known when and where precisely.
Terrorists were "trying to destroy the chances of peace", an Israeli government spokesman said. The shooting was also immediately condemned by the US, UN, UK and the Palestinian Authority.
The gunman entered the school's dining room and opened fire
The Palestinian Islamist group, Hamas, praised the attack, calling it "heroic", but did not claim responsibility. There was also celebratory gunfire in Gaza.
Later, the al-Manar satellite television station of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement reported that a previously unknown group called the "Jalil Freedom Battalions - the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh and Gaza" was behind the shooting.
Israeli security forces have been on high alert since Mughniyeh, a senior Hezbollah leader and military commander, was killed in a car bomb in Damascus on 12 February.
Hezbollah blamed Israel, which denied any involvement.
When we got in... we saw young, 15-, 16-year-old guys lying on the floor with their Bibles in their hands - all dead on the floor
'Horrific'
Witnesses said the gunman entered the library at the Mercaz Harav seminary on Thursday evening, where about 80 students were gathered, and fired an AK-47 rifle for several minutes.
One of the students, Yitzhak Dadon, said he had shot the gunman twice before he was finally killed by an off-duty Israeli army officer, who had gone to the school after hearing gunfire.
"I saw the gunman and he fired a long burst in the air. But then he disappeared," he told the Reuters news agency.
"I saw him again when he approached the door of the library. I shot him twice in the head. He started to sway and then someone else with a rifle fired at him, and he died."
Another man told the BBC that there had been "terrible scenes" inside the building afterwards.
"The terrorists were shooting on us. We all hid under the cars," he said.
"When we got in... we saw young, 15-, 16-year-old guys lying on the floor with their Bibles in their hands - all dead on the floor because the terrorist guys went inside and killed those guys who were only here studying in Jerusalem."
Israeli police and military personnel later searched the building and the surrounding area in order to determine whether there had been a second assailant, but Jerusalem's police commander confirmed there had been only one man.
"He hid the weapon in a cardboard box," Aharon Franco told reporters.
Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski told Israeli Channel 2 television: "It's very sad tonight in Jerusalem - many people were killed in the heart of Jerusalem."
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said "terrorists are trying to destroy the chances of peace, but we will certainly continue peace talks" with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also condemned the attack.
"The president condemns all attacks that target civilians, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli," said a statement released by Mr Abbas' office.
US President George W Bush said he condemned "in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack in Jerusalem that targeted innocent students", while UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the reports of the killings were "shocking".
"They are an arrow aimed at the heart of the peace process so recently revived," Mr Miliband said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also criticised the "deliberate killing and injuring of civilians" in what he called a "savage attack".
The Mercaz Harav seminary is a well-known centre for Jewish studies and most students are aged between 18 and 30. It is said to be associated with the leadership of the Jewish settler movement in the West Bank.
MERCAZ HARAV SEMINARY
In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, gunmen fired into the air after news broke about the attack. A loudspeaker in Gaza City reportedly broadcast the message: "This is God's vengeance".
Attack in Jerusalem is a normal response to the crimes of the occupier and its murder of civilians
A spokesman for Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, said the group "blesses the heroic operation in Jerusalem, which was a natural reaction to the Zionist massacre".
The BBC's Crispin Thorold says this will be a particularly shocking incident for the Israeli public and Jewish people around the world - which comes at an extremely tense time. Israel, he says, is likely to take retaliatory action.
An Israeli government spokesman, David Baker, told the BBC that "those celebrating this massacre in Jerusalem tonight are enemies of peace and co-existence".
"Much like the rocket attacks from the Gaza strip, this is an indiscriminate attack on Israeli civilians," he added.
Last week, Israeli forces launched a raid into northern Gaza in which more than 120 Palestinians - including many civilians - were killed.
Shortly after the Jerusalem shooting, Islamic Jihad, said four of its fighters had been killed in an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis.
Israel says the recent military offensive has been designed to stamp out frequent rocket fire by Palestinian militants.
Rocket attacks have hit deeper into southern Israel, reaching Ashkelon, the closest large city to the Gaza Strip.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7282269.stm
Witnesses said the gunman went into a crowded hall during dinner at the Mercaz Harav seminary in the city's Kiryat Moshe quarter and opened fire.
The assailant, who Israeli police said was a resident of East Jerusalem, was shot dead by an Israeli army officer.
The attack is the worst of its kind in Israel for a number of years.
The BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen says the Israeli government will be under immense pressure to respond - and it will, even though it is not known when and where precisely.
Terrorists were "trying to destroy the chances of peace", an Israeli government spokesman said. The shooting was also immediately condemned by the US, UN, UK and the Palestinian Authority.
The gunman entered the school's dining room and opened fire
The Palestinian Islamist group, Hamas, praised the attack, calling it "heroic", but did not claim responsibility. There was also celebratory gunfire in Gaza.
Later, the al-Manar satellite television station of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement reported that a previously unknown group called the "Jalil Freedom Battalions - the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh and Gaza" was behind the shooting.
Israeli security forces have been on high alert since Mughniyeh, a senior Hezbollah leader and military commander, was killed in a car bomb in Damascus on 12 February.
Hezbollah blamed Israel, which denied any involvement.
When we got in... we saw young, 15-, 16-year-old guys lying on the floor with their Bibles in their hands - all dead on the floor
Witnesses said the gunman entered the library at the Mercaz Harav seminary on Thursday evening, where about 80 students were gathered, and fired an AK-47 rifle for several minutes.
One of the students, Yitzhak Dadon, said he had shot the gunman twice before he was finally killed by an off-duty Israeli army officer, who had gone to the school after hearing gunfire.
"I saw the gunman and he fired a long burst in the air. But then he disappeared," he told the Reuters news agency.
"I saw him again when he approached the door of the library. I shot him twice in the head. He started to sway and then someone else with a rifle fired at him, and he died."
Another man told the BBC that there had been "terrible scenes" inside the building afterwards.
"The terrorists were shooting on us. We all hid under the cars," he said.
"When we got in... we saw young, 15-, 16-year-old guys lying on the floor with their Bibles in their hands - all dead on the floor because the terrorist guys went inside and killed those guys who were only here studying in Jerusalem."
Israeli police and military personnel later searched the building and the surrounding area in order to determine whether there had been a second assailant, but Jerusalem's police commander confirmed there had been only one man.
"He hid the weapon in a cardboard box," Aharon Franco told reporters.
Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski told Israeli Channel 2 television: "It's very sad tonight in Jerusalem - many people were killed in the heart of Jerusalem."
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said "terrorists are trying to destroy the chances of peace, but we will certainly continue peace talks" with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also condemned the attack.
"The president condemns all attacks that target civilians, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli," said a statement released by Mr Abbas' office.
US President George W Bush said he condemned "in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack in Jerusalem that targeted innocent students", while UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the reports of the killings were "shocking".
"They are an arrow aimed at the heart of the peace process so recently revived," Mr Miliband said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also criticised the "deliberate killing and injuring of civilians" in what he called a "savage attack".
The Mercaz Harav seminary is a well-known centre for Jewish studies and most students are aged between 18 and 30. It is said to be associated with the leadership of the Jewish settler movement in the West Bank.
MERCAZ HARAV SEMINARY
- Founded in 1924 by influential Rabbi Avraham Hacohen Kook
- Some 700 students enrolled in Talmudic study
- Students mainly high-school age and young adults
- Graduates serve as rabbis and rabbinical judges in Israel and Jewish settlements
- School has played a major role in ideology and theology of Israeli religious settlement movement
- Key figures linked to the school were strongly opposed to Israeli pull-out from Gaza
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- 30 Mar 2006: Four die, Kedumim suicide bombing
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- 13 Jan 2005: Six die, suicide bombing at Karni crossing
In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, gunmen fired into the air after news broke about the attack. A loudspeaker in Gaza City reportedly broadcast the message: "This is God's vengeance".
Attack in Jerusalem is a normal response to the crimes of the occupier and its murder of civilians
A spokesman for Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, said the group "blesses the heroic operation in Jerusalem, which was a natural reaction to the Zionist massacre".
The BBC's Crispin Thorold says this will be a particularly shocking incident for the Israeli public and Jewish people around the world - which comes at an extremely tense time. Israel, he says, is likely to take retaliatory action.
An Israeli government spokesman, David Baker, told the BBC that "those celebrating this massacre in Jerusalem tonight are enemies of peace and co-existence".
"Much like the rocket attacks from the Gaza strip, this is an indiscriminate attack on Israeli civilians," he added.
Last week, Israeli forces launched a raid into northern Gaza in which more than 120 Palestinians - including many civilians - were killed.
Shortly after the Jerusalem shooting, Islamic Jihad, said four of its fighters had been killed in an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis.
Israel says the recent military offensive has been designed to stamp out frequent rocket fire by Palestinian militants.
Rocket attacks have hit deeper into southern Israel, reaching Ashkelon, the closest large city to the Gaza Strip.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7282269.stm
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