Post by FaithWalker on Mar 6, 2008 14:11:28 GMT -6
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Several people were killed Thursday in what Israeli police are calling a "severe terrorist attack" at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem.
Video from the scene showed a frantic crowd of rescue workers carrying bloodied victims into ambulances. Dozens of police officers were scouring the campus and surrounding streets.
Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said: "They opened fire on innocent youngsters studying. A number of students have been killed.
"We are still searching the building for the possibility of a second terrorist still in the building."
CNN's Ben Wedeman in Gaza reported celebratory shooting shortly after the attack.
An ambulance spokesman told CNN eight people died in the attack. A police spokesman said one attacker was dead. It was not immediately clear if the dead attacker was included in the casualty figures put out by the ambulance service.
In the minutes after the attack the reported number of wounded varied from six to 35.
Earlier Thursday, one person was injured when a rocket struck a home near Gaza Thursday, Israeli ambulance officials said.
The Qassam rocket hit a home in the Israeli city of Sderot Thursday evening, they said.
An Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman said a total of 10 rockets were fired from Gaza Thursday.
Earlier Thursday, the military wing of Islamic Jihad said it killed an Israeli soldier and wounded three others in what it called a revenge attack.
The Israeli military confirmed the casualties, saying the soldiers were on patrol along the Gaza border on Thursday morning when a roadside bomb exploded.
Islamic Jihad said the attack was in revenge for the death earlier this week of one of its senior leaders. Israel said two other militants were also killed in Tuesday night's incursion into Gaza, near Khan Yunis.
Israel has staged a series of military operations into Gaza over the last week in an attempt to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets from the Palestinian territory into Israel.
More than 100 Palestinians have died during the operations. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed.
Witnesses said explosions rocked a border area east of the Gaza village of Garara, setting an Israeli army jeep on fire. Israeli troops, on the lookout for attackers, regularly patrol the border.
Separately, the Israeli military confirmed an airstrike on armed militants in northern Gaza.
The violence came a day after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he will heed calls to renew peace talks with Israel, an about-face from earlier on Wednesday when he said Palestinians wouldn't return to the table before reaching a cease-fire.
The turnaround came as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem, and as the Israeli Security Cabinet approved further military action against Hamas and other militants launching rockets into Israel from Gaza.
Link
Video from the scene showed a frantic crowd of rescue workers carrying bloodied victims into ambulances. Dozens of police officers were scouring the campus and surrounding streets.
Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said: "They opened fire on innocent youngsters studying. A number of students have been killed.
"We are still searching the building for the possibility of a second terrorist still in the building."
CNN's Ben Wedeman in Gaza reported celebratory shooting shortly after the attack.
An ambulance spokesman told CNN eight people died in the attack. A police spokesman said one attacker was dead. It was not immediately clear if the dead attacker was included in the casualty figures put out by the ambulance service.
In the minutes after the attack the reported number of wounded varied from six to 35.
Earlier Thursday, one person was injured when a rocket struck a home near Gaza Thursday, Israeli ambulance officials said.
The Qassam rocket hit a home in the Israeli city of Sderot Thursday evening, they said.
An Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman said a total of 10 rockets were fired from Gaza Thursday.
Earlier Thursday, the military wing of Islamic Jihad said it killed an Israeli soldier and wounded three others in what it called a revenge attack.
The Israeli military confirmed the casualties, saying the soldiers were on patrol along the Gaza border on Thursday morning when a roadside bomb exploded.
Islamic Jihad said the attack was in revenge for the death earlier this week of one of its senior leaders. Israel said two other militants were also killed in Tuesday night's incursion into Gaza, near Khan Yunis.
Israel has staged a series of military operations into Gaza over the last week in an attempt to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets from the Palestinian territory into Israel.
More than 100 Palestinians have died during the operations. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed.
Witnesses said explosions rocked a border area east of the Gaza village of Garara, setting an Israeli army jeep on fire. Israeli troops, on the lookout for attackers, regularly patrol the border.
Separately, the Israeli military confirmed an airstrike on armed militants in northern Gaza.
The violence came a day after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he will heed calls to renew peace talks with Israel, an about-face from earlier on Wednesday when he said Palestinians wouldn't return to the table before reaching a cease-fire.
The turnaround came as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem, and as the Israeli Security Cabinet approved further military action against Hamas and other militants launching rockets into Israel from Gaza.
Link