Funeral held for married couple killed in Jerusalem synagogue shooting
A funeral was held for an Israeli husband and wife on Saturday after they were killed in a synagogue attack in Jerusalem.
Eli, 48, and Natali Mizrahi, 45, were among seven Israelis killed by a Palestinian gunman in a synagogue on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Friday (January 27) in an attack that heightened fears of a spiral in bloodshed, a day after the deadliest Israeli raid in the West Bank in years.
Police said the gunman arrived at around 8.15 p.m. and opened fire, hitting a number of people before he was killed by police. TV footage showed several victims lying in the road outside the synagogue being tended to by emergency workers.
Friday's attack outside a synagogue was the deadliest in the Jerusalem area since 2008. The gunman, Khaire Alkam, was a 21-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem. Among the dead was a 14-year-old boy, police said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the shooting and Alkam's father told Reuters his son had no links to militants. He struck in an area that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after capturing it in the 1967 Middle East war in a move not recognised internationally.
Shimon Israel, 56, who lives nearby, said his family were starting their Sabbath dinner when they heard shooting and screaming. He opened the window and saw his neighbour running along the street to get the police.
"I told him 'Eli, don't go there. Eli don't go.' He got married only a year ago. A good neighbour, like a brother. He ran. I saw him fall there," Israel told Reuters.
"Natali, his wife, ran after him. She saw someone here and was trying to resuscitate him. The terrorist came and shot her from behind and got her too," he said.
According to Israeli Media, Eli and Natali were married just two years ago.
Friday's shooting, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, was condemned by the White House and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who urged "utmost restraint". It came days before a planned visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel and the West Bank.
Reuters
