Jerusalem killing 'will not halt peace talks'

Israel today insisted the massacre of eight students by a Palestinian gunman would not halt peace talks.

Hamas militants in Gaza claimed they were behind the attack on a religious school in Jerusalem and there were calls to end the negotiations.

But a government source said Israel would push ahead “so as not to punish moderate Palestinians for actions by people who are not just our enemies but theirs as well.”

Meanwhile thousands of Israelis gathered for the funerals of the victims who were studying in the Mercaz Harav seminary’s library when Alaa Abu Dheim, 25, walked in and opened fire.

He was shot and wounded by a former student who was also as Israeli army officer, and finished off by soldiers.

Outside the bullet-scarred seminary today a rabbi recited Hebrew psalms, the crowd repeating after him, in memory of the dead.

People packed nearby balconies to observe the ceremony, after which the victims, one 26 and the rest between ages 15 and 19, were taken for burial.

Israel closed the West Bank and beefed up security and emergency forces around Jerusalem and other areas in the wake of the shooting, the first major attack in the city in four years and the deadliest in Israel since a suicide bomber killed 11 people in Tel Aviv in April 2006.

The attack came on the heels of a surge in fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza. More than 120 Palestinians and three Israelis died in the clashes, which were sparked by an increase in militant rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel.

A Hamas radio presenter said the group’s military wing had “promised a jolting response” to the Israeli offensive, and called on believers to “celebrate this victory against the brutal enemy,” prompting some Israeli politicians to call on their government to break off peace talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ moderate, West Bank-based government.

The family of Abu Dheim, a driver from east Jerusalem, confirmed he had carried out the attack.

They described him as intensely religious, but said he was not a member of a militant group and had planned to get married in the summer.

Abu Dheim had been transfixed in recent days by the news of bloodshed in Gaza, said his sister, Iman Abu Dheim.

Abu Dheim’s family set up a mourning tent outside their home and hung green Hamas flags along with one yellow flag of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Family members said several relatives had already been taken for questioning by Israeli police.

“He told me he wasn’t able to sleep because of the grief,” she said.

Israeli defence officials confirmed that he came from Jabel Mukaber in east Jerusalem, where Palestinian residents hold ID cards giving them freedom of movement in Israel, unlike Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

A police spokesman said Abu Dheim walked through the seminary’s main gate and into the library, where around 80 students were gathered. He carried an assault rifle and pistol, and opened fire with both weapons.

A seminary graduate who is an army officer and lives nearby rushed into the building with his weapon and killed Abu Dheim.

“He saw the terrorist shooting, and with amazing resourcefulness he went into one of the rooms and managed to kill him,” said the spokesman.