A gunman killed at least seven people and wounded 10 others at a synagogue on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Friday in an attack that sparked fears of further violence, a day after Israel’s biggest attack on the West Bank in years, AFP reported. .

Police said the gunman arrived around 8:15 p.m. and opened fire, wounding several people before he was killed by police. Television footage showed several victims lying on the road near the synagogue, being treated by ambulance workers.

The attack, which police described as a “terrorist incident,” underscored fears of escalating violence after months of clashes in the West Bank, culminating in a raid on Thursday that killed at least nine Palestinians.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack on the synagogue, which took place during a Saturday service on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but a spokesman for the Islamist movement Hamas said the incidents were linked.

“This operation is a response to the crime committed by the occupiers in Jenin and a natural response to the criminal actions of the occupiers,” said Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem. The smaller Islamic Jihad militant group also praised the attack without claiming responsibility.

Israeli media reported that the attacker was a Palestinian who lived in East Jerusalem, but there was no official confirmation.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry reported seven dead, but emergency services reported five dead.

In Gaza, news of the attack sparked spontaneous demonstrations in the streets, accompanied by celebratory gunfire.

Friday’s attacks came days before US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was scheduled to visit Israel and the West Bank. The State Department released a statement condemning the attack and saying Blinken’s travel plans had not changed.