A 13-year-old Palestinian boy shot and injured two people in East Jerusalem on Saturday morning, police said, hours after a gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue in the city.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said its medics were treating two people in the Silwan neighbourhood, near Jerusalem's Old City.
A 23-year-old man was in a serious condition and a 47-year-old man's condition was defined as moderate to serious.
Police said the victims were father and son and that the shooter was a 13-year-old Palestinian boy from East Jerusalem. He was "neutralised and injured" by armed civilians and taken to hospital.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Saturday a "strong, swift and precise" response to the latest spate of violence, as its military sent more troops into the occupied West Bank.
"We are not seeking escalation, but we are prepared for any scenario," Mr Netanyahu said as he convened his security cabinet which he said would seek an increase in gun permits for licensed civilians to defend against street attacks.
The attack came after police arrested dozens of people in connection with the shooting in the Neve Yaakov settlement in East Jerusalem on Friday evening in which seven people died and 10 were wounded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian woman was among the victims as he led international condemnation of the attacks. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was "deeply shocked".
Police identified the gunman in that attack as a 21-year-old resident of the At-Tur neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
There has been no indication that he had prior involvement in militant activity or was a member of an established Palestinian armed group.
He was killed by police following a brief chase.
Police said they had arrested 42 people “for questioning” overnight. They said some of them were members of the gunman's family.
Others detained included residents of the attacker's neighbourhood.
The force is on the “highest level” of alert after the attack in Neve Yaakov.
The shooting took place as worshippers attended Shabbat services on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had held a security assessment and decided on “immediate actions”.
He said he would discuss a further response with his Security Cabinet on Saturday night, after the end of the Shabbat, and called on the public not to take the law into their own hands.
The Neve Yaakov shooting came a day after 10 people including civilians were killed during an Israeli army raid in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets at Israel early on Friday, prompting Israeli air strikes on the territory.
The military announced on Saturday that it would move an extra battalion into the West Bank,
The US condemned Friday's shooting, which occurred days before a visit to the region by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“This is absolutely horrific,” said State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.
“We condemn this apparent terrorist attack in the strongest terms. Our commitment to Israel's security remains ironclad, and we are in direct touch with our Israeli partners.”
Mr Patel said there would be no change in Mr Blinken's travel plans. He plans to meet the leaders of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt, starting on Sunday.
President Joe Biden asked his national security team to “offer all appropriate support in assisting the wounded and bringing the perpetrators of this horrible crime to justice,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
“The United States will extend our full support to the government and people of Israel,” she said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply worried” by the current escalation of violence and urged “utmost restraint”, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
“The Secretary General strongly condemns today's terrorist attack,” Mr Dujarric said on Friday night. “It is particularly abhorrent that the attack occurred at a place of worship, and on the very day we commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day.”
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also condemned the attack.
“To attack worshippers at a synagogue on Holocaust Memorial Day, and during Shabbat, is horrific. We stand with our Israeli friends,” he tweeted.
The UAE strongly condemned the attack in a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry.
Months of violence in the West Bank have heightened fears that the already unpredictable conflict may spiral out of control, ending in a broader confrontation between Palestinians and Israel.
The latest violence began under the previous coalition government and has continued following the election of Mr Netanyahu's new right-wing administration, which includes ultranationalist parties that want to expand settlements in the West Bank.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
INFO
What: DP World Tour Championship
When: November 21-24
Where: Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae.
Naga
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