Middle East on alert as boy, 13, shoots father and his son

THE Middle East was on a knife-edge last night with Israeli security forces on high alert for terror attacks after a 13-year-old Palestinian boy shot two Israelis in East Jerusalem.

The boy was shot and taken away by security officials after the attack yesterday. The victims – a father and his son – were taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

On Friday 21-year-old Palestinian Alkam Khairi shot and killed seven Jewish Israelis outside a synagogue in Neve Yaakov, eastern Jerusalem, leaving another three people wounded.

Khairi was killed by security forces after trying to flee on foot.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two terror groups in Gaza, said the attacks were a ‘natural’ response to an Israeli army raid in the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday that left nine Palestinians dead, two of them civilians.

Israeli police have arrested 42 people in connection with the attacks. A senior military analyst said they were incited by the terror group Hamas.

Tamir Hayman, Israel’s former head of military intelligence, told The Mail On Sunday that Israel should punish Hamas for its role in the killings.

But he warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold back from retaliatory military action. Instead, he said, Israel should consider cutting the 15,000 permits for Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip to work in Israel as a warning to Hamas. He said that although Hamas hadn’t taken direct responsibility, it was ‘riding the wave of terror’ to gain popularity among Palestinians.

Last night Mr Netanyahu convened his security cabinet, warning of a ‘strong, swift and precise’ response.