Arab Countries Call for End to Escalation after Jerusalem Synagogue Attack

Israeli security forces at the scene of a shooting near the Old City in Silwan neighborhood in Jerusalem, 28 January 2023, a day after deadly attack on synagogue. (EPA)
Israeli security forces at the scene of a shooting near the Old City in Silwan neighborhood in Jerusalem, 28 January 2023, a day after deadly attack on synagogue. (EPA)
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Arab Countries Call for End to Escalation after Jerusalem Synagogue Attack

Israeli security forces at the scene of a shooting near the Old City in Silwan neighborhood in Jerusalem, 28 January 2023, a day after deadly attack on synagogue. (EPA)
Israeli security forces at the scene of a shooting near the Old City in Silwan neighborhood in Jerusalem, 28 January 2023, a day after deadly attack on synagogue. (EPA)

Arab countries condemned on Saturday the attack outside a synagogue in Jerusalem that left seven people dead.

They stressed the need to end the escalation between Israel and the Palestinians.

Official spokesman of Jordan’s foreign ministry Sinan al-Majalyi said the kingdom condemns the attack against civilians at the synagogue and all forms of violence against civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories.

It stresses the need to take “immediate and effective steps that would end the dangerous escalation that has left Palestinian and Israeli casualties,” he added.

He warned that the continuation of the violence would lead to dire consequences.

He urged the need for calm and an end to “all unilateral and provocative measures that only fuel escalation and tensions.”

Furthermore, the spokesman underlined the need to “halt the dangerous escalation that feed despair and extremism.”

Rather, efforts are “needed to restore faith in the peace process through the resumption of serious and effective negotiations aimed at achieving fair and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution.”

The United Arab Emirates’ foreign ministry condemned Friday's “terrorist attack” on the synagogue, slamming “these criminal acts and underscoring its constant rejection of all forms of violence and terrorism that seek to undermine security and stability and contradict with human values and principles.”

It offered its condolences to the Israeli government and its friendly people and the relatives of the victims.

Egypt expressed its “strong condemnation and rejection of the attack” in East Jerusalem, saying it denounces all operations targeting civilians.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry warned of the “extreme dangers” of the ongoing escalation between the Palestinians and Israelis, urging “maximum restraint” and an end to attacks and provocative measures in order “to avoid sliding into a new empty cycle of violence.”

Such violence will only deepen the political and humanitarian crisis and undermine all efforts to revive the peace process, it warned.

A Palestinian gunman shot dead seven people near a synagogue on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Friday.

Israeli police said that the gunman attack was a 21-year-old Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem who appeared to have acted alone in carrying out the attack in an area that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war.

On Saturday, the Israeli ambulance service said two people were hurt in what appeared to be another shooting attack.

The attack underlined fears of an escalation in violence after months of clashes in the West Bank culminating in a raid in Jenin on Thursday that killed at least nine Palestinians.

The outbreak of violence is the first major confrontation since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office last month at the head of a government that includes hardline nationalist parties.

Earlier on Friday, fighters in Gaza fired rockets at Israel, causing no casualties but drawing air strikes by Israeli jets, which struck targets in the blockaded coastal strip controlled by Hamas.



Israel Ready to Negotiate Permanent Gaza Ceasefire during 60-day Truce, Netanyahu Says

09 July 2025, US, Washington: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking with the press at the US Capitol in Washington. Photo: Douglas Christian/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
09 July 2025, US, Washington: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking with the press at the US Capitol in Washington. Photo: Douglas Christian/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Israel Ready to Negotiate Permanent Gaza Ceasefire during 60-day Truce, Netanyahu Says

09 July 2025, US, Washington: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking with the press at the US Capitol in Washington. Photo: Douglas Christian/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
09 July 2025, US, Washington: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking with the press at the US Capitol in Washington. Photo: Douglas Christian/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will likely have a ceasefire agreement with Hamas to release more Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian group. 

Netanyahu said 50 hostages were still being held captive by Hamas. Of that figure, he said, only 20 are believed to be alive. 

"I want to take them all out. We now have a deal that supposedly will get half of the living and half of the dead out," Netanyahu said in an interview on Newsmax show "The Record with Greta Van Susteren" that aired on Thursday. 

"And so we'll have 10 living left and about 12 deceased hostages, but I'll get them out, too. I hope we can complete it in a few days." 

On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel's retaliation has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, Gaza's health ministry says, and reduced much of Gaza to rubble. 

The two sides have had two ceasefires - one in November 2023 and another in January 2025- since the fighting started. 

Netanyahu said Israel and Hamas will likely have a 60-day ceasefire, which the two sides could use to try to end the conflict. 

Hamas said on Wednesday there were several sticking points in the ongoing ceasefire talks including the flow of aid, withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and "genuine guarantees for a permanent ceasefire." 

Netanyahu's interview with Newsmax comes as he wraps his third visit to Washington since President Donald Trump took office in January. 

Speaking of Trump, the Israeli leader said his country has never had "such a friend, such a support of Israel, the Jewish state in the White House." 

Last month, the US joined Israel in striking Iran, a move that Trump has said "obliterated" three of Iran's nuclear sites. 

When asked about a damage assessment, Netanyahu said, "Within months, they could have produced atomic bombs."