Hamas claims responsibility for Jerusalem school shooting
Israel vows to continue peace talks after eight killed at Jerusalem school
Friday, 07, Mar 2008 08:19
The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has claimed responsibility for the shooting at a school in Jerusalem that left eight people dead.
"The Hamas movement announces its full responsibility for the Jerusalem operation," a Hamas official told the Reuters news agency.
"The movement will release the details at a later stage."
A Palestinian gunman shot dead eight people in a Jewish school in Jerusalem last night. The man is believed to come from east Jerusalem and was shot dead after the attack at the Mercaz Harav school.
Another nine people are reported to have been injured in the attack. The head of the school told the AFP news agency that all the victims were between 15 and 16 years old.
Thousand of people today attended the funerals of the eight students killed in the attack and police set up roadblocks and limits on Palestinian travel from the West Bank were tightened.
The attack was greeted with celebrations in Gaza City as well as global condemnation, with world leaders criticising the attacks and the disruption to peace talks.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon criticised the "savage attacks" and "deliberate killing and injuring of civilians".
Prime minister Gordon Brown described the attack as "an attempt to strike a blow at the very heart of the peace process".
He called for the peace process to continue and to counter "people of violence".
"Those who wish to stop the peace process by violence should be stopped from doing so by the combined voices of people throughout the world. The way to answer those people of violence is to move forward the peace process as quickly as possible," he said.
In a statement released by the White House, US president George Bush also said he condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms".
"This barbaric and vicious attack on innocent civilians deserves the condemnation of every nation," he added.
"I have just spoken with prime minister Olmert to extend my deepest condolences to the victims, their families, and to the people of Israel. I told him the United States stands firmly with Israel in the face of this terrible attack."
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said peace talks would continue with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who condemned the attack.
The shooting comes after more than a week of Israeli-Palestinian violence in and around the Gaza Strip.